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HISTORICAL   SKETCH 


(      DEC   5  1917    \ 


SYRIA    MISSIOIsr. 


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REV.  THOMAS  LAURIE. 


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BV 

3200         ' 

.L38 

1862 

fPBUSnED    BY   THE 

AMERICAN  BOARD  OF  OOMMISSIONEES  FOR  FOREIGU  MISSIONS 

1866. 


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BV  3200  .L38  1862 
Laurie,  Thomas,  1821-1897 
Historical  sketch  of  the 
Syria  mission  . . 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH 


DEC   5  18 


V  /i 


SYEIA    MISSION. 


BY        / 

REV.  THOMAS  LAURIE. 


PtJPLISHED    BY    THE    AMERICAIf    BOARD    OF  COMMISSIONERS 
FOB    FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 


BOSTON: 

MISSIONARY   HOUSE,  33  PEMBERTON   SQUARE. 


SKETCH   OF   THE  SYRIA  MISSION. 


THE     FIEHjID. 

The  field  of  the  Syria  Mission  in  one  sense  may  be  said  to  extend  from  below 
Tyre  on  the  south  to  the  region  beyond  Tripoli  on  the  north,  and  from  the  shore 
of  the  Mediterranean  to  Mount  Hermon  and  the  Bukaa.  Formerly  it  embraced 
the  whole  of  Palestine  and  Northern  Syria,  as  far  as  Aleppo,  together  with  the 
island  of  Cyprus.  But  Palestine  was  given  up  in  1843  to  other  missionary 
societies.  Northern  Syria  was  transferred,  in  1855,  to  the  mission  in  Turkey; 
and  Cyprus,  first  made  a  separate  mission  in  1839,  was  joined  to  the  Turkish 
mission  in  1840,  and  finally  abandoned  in  1842. 

But  this  gives  by  no  means  a  fair  view  of  the  extent  of  the  operations  of  tliis 
mission.  Its  real  field  is  to  be  sought  in  that  portion  of  our  race  that  is  to  be 
reacted  through  the  Arabic  language,  which,  as  the  sacred  language  of  the 
Koran,  is  venerated  and  studied  from  Western  Africa  to  the  Philippine  Islands 
over  130°  of  longitude,  and  from  the  tropic  of  Capricorn  to  Tartary,  over  70°  of 
latitude.* 

Henry  Martyn  thus  gives  the  reasons  for  his  translation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment into  Arabic :  "  We  shall  begin  to  preach  to  Arabia,  Syria,  Persia,  Tar- 
tary, part  of  India  and  of  China,  half  of  Africa,  all  the  southern  coast  of  the 
Mediteri'anean,  and  one  tongue  shall  suffice  for  them  all."  And  Dr.  Joseph 
Tracy,  in  speaking  of  our  new  version  of  the  Bible,  of  which  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  published  in  1860,  says  :  "  This'gives  the  Bible  in  an  acceptable  form 
to  all  who  read  the  Arabic  language,  and  through  them,  to  all  who  speak  it — 
a  population  numbering  at  least  120,000,000."t 

Viewing  the  field  in  this  light,  it  is  interesting  to  see  how  Providence  directed 
the  pioneers  of  the  mission  to  locate  it  in  just  that  point  where  the  Arabic- 
speaking  portion  of  our  race  has  attained  the  highest  degree  of  development, 
where  the  body  has  drunk  in  vigor  from  the  cool  springs  and  bracing  air  of 
goodly  Lebanon,  and  the  mind  has  learned  manliness  under  the  inspiration  of 
the  freedom  long  maintained  in  those  mountain  fastnesses,  after  it  had  been 
swept  away  from  more  accessible  regions  by  the  merciless  oppression  of  the 
Turk.  Here,  too,  in  this  home  of  energetic  and  thinking  men,  is  the  commercial 
center  of  Syria,  offering  every  facility  for  the  diffusion  of  the  truth  ;  while  con- 

•  McCulloch's  Geograpliieal  Dictionary.      j- Memorial  Volume,  SIT. 


4  fHE  SYEIA  MISSION, 

1  \  stant  communication  with  Europe  rouses  inquiring  minds  to  search  into  the 
i. w ' ,  causes  of  tlie  prosperity  of  nations  so  much  more  favored  than  tliemselves,  and 
/  the  healthy  atmosphere  of  Lebanon  offers  itself  to  sustain  the  vigor  of  mis- 
]    sionaries  sent  there  from  a  northem  clime. 

Our  missionaries  in  Syria  have  already  had  several  applications  for  books 
fi'om  Bombay,  and  forwarded  the  issues  of  their  press  for  the  use  of  Moham- 
medans there,  while  in  1860  the  demand  for  the  New  Testament  by  the  Copts 
in  Egypt  was  greater  than  they  could  supply. 

The  whole  population  of  Syria  has  been  estimated  at  1,610,000.  Of  this, 
about  850,000  are  Moslems.  This  includes  both  the  Sunnites,  or  followers  of 
Abu  Bekr,  who  are  the  orthodox  Mohammedans  in  Turkey,  and  the  Shiites,  or 
adherents  of  Ali,  who  constitute  the  state  sect  in  Persia,  and  also  about  50,000 
Kurds.  Besides  these,  the  Nusairiyeh,  or  Ansairiyeh,  a  people  whose  creed 
and  modes  of  worship  are  unknown,  though  missionaries  and  others  have 
spared  no  pains  to  ascertain  them,  occupy  the  mountains  between  Tripoli  and 
Scanderoon,  and  number  perhaps  150,000.  The  Ismailiyeh,  Yezidees,  and 
Nowar  or  Gypsies,  together  may  amount  to  20,000.  The  Druzes  have  their 
head-quarters  in  Southern  Lebanon  and  across  Mount  Hermon  into  the  Hauran, 
(Auranitis,)  and  number  about  100,000. 

As  the  mission  is  located  in  their  territory,  and  has  been  brought  much  into 
contact  with  them,  they  demand  a  more  particular  notice.  They  are  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  ma^  Egyptian  Caliph  Hakim  Kamr  Illah,  and  have  a  strange 
cabalistic  creed,  as  yet  but  partially  understood.  The  sect  is  divided  into  two 
classes — the  "Akkal,"  or  "Liitiated,"  and  the  "  Jehal,"  or  ignorant  mass.  The 
knowledge  of  their  peculiar  tenets  is  confined  to  the  former,  who  use  their 
power  (and  it  is  great)  to  draw  the  rest  this  way  or  that,  as  best  suits  their 
present  interests.  Hence,  on  more  than  one  occasion  in  the  history  of  the 
mission,  the  whole  Druze  nation  has  seemed  on  the  point  of  embracing  the 
Gospel,  because  the  poUtical  interests  of  their  headers  seemed  to  require  such  a 
demonstration ;  but  as  soon  as  the  political  end  was  gained,  or  there  was  no 
more  prospect  of  its  being  gained,  the  seeming  interest  in  the  truth  vanished  as 
quickly  as  it  came.  Only  one  of  this  sect  gives  good  evidence  of  piety,  and  is 
now  a  member  of  the  mission  church. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  there  are  many  Jews  in  Syria,  but  their  whole 
number  does  not  exceed  25,000.  Of  these,  7000  are  in  Jerusalem,  5000  in 
Damascus,  4000  in  Aleppo,  2000  in  Safet,  1500  in  Tiberias,  and  the  rest  prin- 
cipally in  the  larger  towns  and  centers  of  trade. 

Of  the  Christian  sects  in  Syria,  the  most  influential  is  the  Greek  Church,  so 
called,  numbering  150,000.  These  are  Syrians  by  birth  and  descent,  and 
speak  the  Arabic  language  ;  but  are  called  Greeks,  because  they  belong  to  the 
Eastern  or  Greek,  in  distinction  from  the  Western  or  Latin  Church.  They  are 
found  in  large  numbers  in  the  cities,  and  have  two  Patriarchs,  one  at  Antioch 
and  the  other  at  Jerusalem. 

The  Maronite  is  the  most  numerous  of  the  Christian  sects,  numbering 
200,000 ;  but  as  they  are  chiefly  settled  in  one  compact  body  in  northern 
Lebanon,  their  influence  is  less  extensively  felt.  This  sect  originated  in  the 
seventh  century,  and  takes  its  name  from  Maron,  its  founder.  In  the  twelfth 
century  it  submitted  to  the  Pope,  and  has  been  noted  for  unhesitating  devotion 


OBSTACLES.  5 

to  Rome.  Its  liturgy  is  in  Syriac.  The  priesthood  marry ;  but  their  ignorance 
and  bigotry  are  proverbial,  and  until  recently  their  power  was  almost  absolute 
over  the  people. 

The  Armenians  in  Syria  number  some  20,000,  and  the  Jacobites  perhaps 
15,000.  The  Papal  offshoots  from  both  these  sects,  known  as  the  Papal  Arme- 
nian and  the  Papal  Syrian,  together  with  the  Melchites,  or  Greek  Catholics, 
who  have  seceded  from  the  Greek  Church,  may  amount  altogether  to  70,000. 
The  Latins  are  not  suflBciently  numerous  to  deserve  separate  mention ;  and 
the  Protestants,  though  now  few  in  numbers,  are  increasing  with  great  rapidity, 
by  accessions  from  all  the  others. 

These  sects  often  exist  in  the  same  city,  as  do  our  several  denominations  at 

home ;  but  they  form  communities  as  distinct  politically  as  they  are  religiously. 

If  we  view  the  population  territorially,  Lebanon  has  a  population  of  about 

400,000  distributed  in  more  than  six  hundred  towns  and  villages.     Of  these, 

;    Zahleh  is  the  largest,  containing,  previous  to  its  destruction  in  1860,  11,000. 

j   Deir  el  Komr,  the  seat  of  government  before  the  massacre,   had  about  7000. 

i    Beirut,  the  sea-port  of  Damascus,  is  the  largest  city  on  the  coast,  with  a  popu- 

;  lation,  in  and  around  the  walls,  of  50,000.     This  is  the  head-quarters  of  the 

mission,  as  it  is  the  commercial  center  of  the  country.     Tripoli  has  15,000  in- 

I   habitants,  or  including  the  port,  (El  Mina,)  20,000,  Sidon  about  10,000,  Tyre 

',  only  3500,  and  Acre  perhaps  5000. 

Of  cities  in  the  interior,  Damascus,  up  to  1860,  has  taken  the  lead,  with  its. 
120,000.  Aleppo  comes  next,  with  70,000  ;  Hamah  has  33,000,  Homs  25,000, 
Antioch  20,000,  Jerusalem  18,000,  Gaza  16,000,  Safet  and  Ramleh  4000  each, 
Bethlehem  3500,  and  Nazareth  about  3000. 

The  climate  of  Syria  is  varied,  as  much  by  altitude  as  by  latitude  ;  for  whiie 
in  Beirut  snow  is  seldom  known,  in  Jerusalem  it  is  common.  Orange-trees 
flourish  in  the  gardens  of  Tripoli,  and  further  south  along  the  coast ;  yet  three  or 
four  hours'  ride  from  Beirut  in  mid-winter  may  bring  the  traveler  into  a  snow- 
storm on  Lebanon.  The  native  poets  say :  "  Lebanon  bears  winter  on  his  head, 
spring  on  his  shoulders,  and  autumn  in  his  bosom,  while  summer  lies  sleeping 
at  his  feet."  Fresh  snow  covers  the  summit  of  Sunnin  in  November,  and  dis- 
appears in  April,  though  in  sheltered  nooks  it  remains  all  the  year  round.  At 
Homs  in  July  the  mercury  ranges  from  70°  to  93°,  with  an  average  of  80°. 
June  and  August  are  cooler,  September  varies  68°  to  82°,  and  in  winter  the 
ground  is  frozen  under  several  inches  of  snow.  Though  at  Beirut  the  thermo- 
meter does  not  rise  above  88°,  yet  the  copious  evaporation  from  the  sea  renders 
this  very  hard  to  bear.  The  climate  of  Syria  is  generally  debilitating,  and 
where,  as  at  Damascus  and  some  parts  of  Lebanon,  a  large  surface  is  under 
irrigation,  the  region  is  liable  to  intermittent  and  other  fevers. 

OBSTACLES   TO   THE   MISSIONARY   WORK  IN   SYRIA. 

No  one  can  form  a  correct  idea  of  this  mission  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
peculiar  difficulties  that  have  impeded  every  step  of  its  progress.     Its  early 
^  history  was  one  long  grapple  with  obstacles  that  more  than  once  threatened  its 
!  destruction  ;  so  that  if  shut  up  to  only  one  topic,  this  would  be  the  most  im- 
portant to  set  before  the  churches  that  sustain  it. 


6  THE  STKIA  MISSION. 

When  the  mission  was  first  established,  a  combination  of  the  several  difficul- 
ties of  other  fields  seemed  to  constitute  a  barrier  well  nigh  insurmountable. 

The  Jews,  beside  their  proverbial  bigotry,  were  dependent  on  the  alms  oi 
Israelites  abroad  ;  so  that  the  first  indication  of  a  leaning  toward  Christianity 
deprived  them  of  their  daily  bread,  and  if  furnished  with  employment  by  the 
missionary,  then  the  cry  of  hireling  apostate  destroyed  their  influence  for 
good. 

The  Moslems,  in  addition  to  the  arrogance  of  a  conquering  race  among  the 
people  they  had  subjugated,  were  bound  by  both  creed  and  ancestral  tradition 
to  persecute  the  Christian.  Then  the  picture-worship  and  Mariolatry  of  those 
who  went  by  that  name  seemed  to  justify  the  bitterness  of  their  contempt,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  deplorable  state  of  morals  that  accompanied  such  idolatries. 
But  even  should  a  Moslem  overcome  all  these  hindrances  to  conversion,  it 
would  only  be  the  signal  for  his  instant  death,  and  the  same  law  that  denounced 
this  penalty  against  him,  made  the  position  of  his  Christian  teacher  scarcely 
less  dangerous. 

The  nominal  Christian  was  in  a  position  hardly  more  favorable ;  for  his 
clergy  wielded  secular  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  power.  They  apportioned  the 
taxes  due  to  the  government  from  their  own  sect  at  their  pleasure.  They  pos- 
sessed dungeons  in  which  they  could  torture  as  well  as  imprison  ;  or  a  word 
from  them  made  the  servants  of  the  government  their  jailers  and  executioners. 
If  any  doubt  these  statements,  let  them  read  the  story  of  Asaad  el  Shidiak,  who 
in  1826,  for  adherence  to  the  word  of  God,  was  repeatedly  imprisoned  and  tor- 
tured, till  walled  up  alive  in  the  Patriarchal  convent  of  Canobin,  (Coenobium,) 
his  sufferings  were  long  protracted  by  the  pittance  of  bread  daily  handed  in 
through  an  opening  into  that  living  tomb.* 

How  far  this  power  availed  for  evil  may  be  seen  also  in  the  expulsion  of  Mr. 
Bird  by  force  from  the  village  of  Ehden,  not  far  from  the  celebrated  grove  of 
cedars  on  Lebanon. 

Invited  to  spend  the  summer  with  his  family  in  that  cool  and  bracing  atmos- 
phere by  Sheikh  Naami  Latuf,  he  arrived  there  with  his  host  August  3d,  1827, 
and  the  next  day,  though  protected  by  an  order  from  the  Emir  Beshir,  the 
whole  family  of  the  Sheikh  was  excommunicated  for  receiving  him.  The  docu- 
ment, read  at  the  window,  declared  that  "  for  receiving  that  deceiver  of  men, 
Bird,  the  Bible-man,  they  are  therefore  accursed,  cut  off  from  all  Christian 
communion  ;  and  let  the  curse  envelop  them  like  a  robe,  and  spread  through  all 
their  members  like  oil.  Yea,  break  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel,  and 
wither  them  like  the  fig-tree  cursed  by  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  himself  Yea, 
let  the  evil  angel  rule  over  them,  to  torment  them,  day  and  night,  asleep  and 
awake,  and  in  whatever  circumstances  they  may  be  found.  "We  permit  no  one 
to  visit  them  or  employ  them  or  do  them  a  favor  or  give  them,  a  salutation  or 
have  intercourse  with  them  in  any  shape,  but  let  them  be  avoided  as  a  putrid 
member  or  as  hellish  dragons.     Beware,  yea,  beware  of  the  wrath  of  God."t 

This  was  followed  in  a  few  moments  by  a  violent  onset,  in  which  the  Sheikh 
was  severely  wounded,  and  the  arm  of  one  of  the  females  in  his  family  broken  ; 

•  See  Memoir  by  Rev.  Isaac  Bird,  Tracy's  History  of  the  American  Board,  p.  178,  and  Mia- 
tlonary  Herald,  1860,  p.  55. 
t  Tracy's  History  of  A.B.C.F.M.,  p.  192. 


PERSECUTIONS.  7 

and  the  next  day,  which  was  Sabbath,  another  letter  from  the  Patriarch  com- 
manded the  people  to  "  persecute  the  Bible-man  from  the  place,  even  though  it 
was  necessary  to  kill  him.' 

Twenty-two  years  after  (July  27th,  1849)  Rev.  D.  M.  Wilson  and  family 
were  driven  from  the  same  village  through  the  same  influences,  the  mob  led  on 
by  the  clergy,  proceeding  even  to  tear  down  the  house  over  the  heads  of  the 
ladies  within. 

In  June,  1858,  the  Greek  Bishop  of  Homs  gave  full  permission  to  his  people 
to  beat  such  as  entered  the  house  of  the  missionary,  but  recommended  that 
they  leave  life  in  their  victims. 

The  clergy  can  at  any  time  forge  evidences  of  debt  against  those  who  incur 
their  displeasure,  and  obtain  any  number  of  witnesses  to  support  such  forgeries 
by  their  oaths. 
/  Even  so  late  as  1859  the  Papists  procured  the  persecution  of  the  Protestants  of 
Alma — a  small  village  about  twelve  miles  from  Acre  and  three  from  the  sea-shore 
— by  their  Moslem  Governor.  He  demanded  money  after  their  taxes  were  all 
paid  ;  and  when  their  headman  ventured  to  produce  their  receipts,  sealed  with 
the  Governor's  own  seal,  he  was  severely  beaten  and  thrust  into  prison.  Two 
others  were  thrown  doM^n  on  the  ground,  and  their  backs  beaten  with  staves 
till  they  were  livid  and  swollen,  then  with  chains  on  their  necks  and  feet,  and 
their  hands  fast  in  wooden  stocks,  they  too  were  thrust  into  a  dungeon,  whence 
they  were  brought  out  to  undergo  a  repetition  of  the  same.  At  length  th€y 
managed  to  flee  to  Beirut,  where  the  sight  of  their  wounds  roused  the  indig- 
nation of  the  whole  council.  But  the  only  redress  they  obtained  was  a  deten- 
tion of  two  months,  to  the  utter  ruin  of  their  business  at  home,  when  they 
were  compelled  to  accept  the  pittance  of  eighteen  dollars,  as  a  compensation  for 
their  wrongs,  four  dollars  of  the  eighteen  being  paid  to  the  surgeon  who  dressed 
their  wounds. 
»r  The  interference  of  the  representatives  of  European  governments  in  aid  of 
*  the  persecutors  of  Protestants  is  another  hindrance  to  the  missionary  work  in 
Syria.  On  the  one  hand,  Jesuit  cunning  and  hatred  can  employ  both  French 
and  Turkish  powe^  against  the  humblest  peasant  who  dares  to  read  his  Bible  ; 
and  on  the  other,  Russian  oflBcials  lend  the  power  of  Russia  to  assist  the 
Greek  Church  in  its  efforts  to  crush  the  truth;  while  no  one  appears  to  take 
the  side  of  the  oppressed  and  persecuted  people.  Take  an  illustration  of  each 
of  these  statements. 

A  dog  ran  out  and  barked  at  a  Papal  teacher  as  he  was  passing  a  Protestant 
house  in  Alma.  Enraged  by  this,  he  first  assembled  his  scholars  and  stoned 
the  house,  and  then  complained  to  the  French  Consul  at  Beirut  of  frightful 
injuries  inflicted  by  the  Protestants.  The  result  was,  that  eighteen  horsemen 
were  sent  by  the  Pasha  to  drag  the  criminals  to  justice  ;  and  five  honest  men, 
who  were  hard  at  work  in  their  distant  fields  while  their  dog  barked,  were 
carried  off  a  three  days'  journey  to  Beirut.  There  they  remained  ten  days, 
vainly  appealing  to  be  brought  to  trial ;  till,  their  persecutors  finding  that 
no  charge  could  be  brought  against  them,  they  were  at  length  informed  that 
they  were  free  to  return  to  their  homes  ! 

Again,  through  the  combined  efforts  of  the  Greek  Patriarch  and  the  Russian 
Consul-General,  government  drove  the  Protestants  from  Hasbeiya.     They  ap- 


8  THE  SYKIA  MISSION. 

plied  for  protection  to  Mr.  Wood,  the  English  Consul  at  Damascus.  Officially 
he  could  give  them  none,  but  privately  he  secured  permission  for  them  to 
return  to  their  homes.  But  even  this  private  interference  could  not  be  allowed, 
and  the  Russian  Consul-General  wrote  to  the  Pasha  of  Damascus  as  follows  : 
"However  I  may  desire  to  address  your  Excellency  on  this  subject  in  a 
friendly  manner,  I  must  remind  you  that  I  am  serving  the  magnificent  Em- 
peror of  Russia,  and  that  ice  have  the  right  of  j^roteeting  the  G-reeh  Church  in 
the  Ottoman  dominions.  I  should  greatly  regret  if  I  were  compelled  to  change 
my  language  and  protest  against  every  proceeding  which  may  lead  to  the 
humiliation  of  the  Greek  Church  at  Hasbeiya  and  the  encouragement  of  pre- 
tended Protestants,  especially  as  the  Sullime  Porte  does  not  recognize  among 
her  subjects  such  a  community.''''  The  matter  did  not  end  here.  The  Emperor 
of  Russia  demanded  the  dismissal  of  Mr.  "Wood ;  and,  will  it  be  believed,  that 
the  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  instead  of  supporting  him  in  the  defense  of  a  people  perse- 
cuted because  they  sought  to  read  the  Bible  for  themselves,  and  worship  God 
according  to  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  New  Testament,  actually  adminis- 
tered a  sharp  rebuke,  and  warned  him  against  the  repetition  of  such  conduct 
in  the  future  ? 

Lest  any  should  lay  this  statement  to  the  score  of  national  prejudice,  it  is 
proper  to  add  that  it  is  given  on  the  authority  of  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Porter,  English 
missionary  to  Damascus,  an  eye-witness  to  the  facts,  and  a  man  every  way 
competent  to  give  his  testimony  in  the  case.* 

Another  hindrance  to  missionary  success  in  Syria  is  the  familiarity  of  the 
people  with  the  language  of  religion  while  strangers  to  its  power.  Religious 
forms  and  expressions  abound.  The  most  sacred  words  and  devout  phrases 
are  on  the  lips  of  all.  Their  very  salutations  contain  an  amount  of  holy  lan- 
guage that  is  astonishing.  If  a  man  meets  you  in  the  morning,  he  says,  "  May 
God  make  your  morning  prosperous  ;"  and  the  reply  is  :  "  May  your  morning 
be  blessed."  The  first  then  asks,  "  How  is  your  condition — please  God,  you 
are  happy  ?"  and  the  answer  comes  :  "  Thank  God,  I  am  happy,  and  how  is 
your  pleasure  ?"  The  first  then  closes  with :  "  May  God  give  you  peace." 
When  a  man  rises  to  go,  he  says,  "  By  your  permission  I  depart,"  and  the 
response  is,  "  Go  m  peace,"  when  the  other  closes  with,  "  And  God  give  you 
peace."  Whatever  the  subject,  their  every-day  discourse  is  in  form  most 
religious,  and  while  piety  itself  is  wanting,  such  a  people  must  manifestly 
be  very  unimpressible  to  religious  instruction.  Good  people  in  America  are 
often  at  a  loss  to  understand  how  there  can  be  so  many  Christian  sects  in 
Syria,  and  no  religion.  But  if  they  will  bear  in  mind  the  natural  character  of 
the  heart,  and  then  consider,  that  in  all  the  nominal  churches  of  Syria  spiritual 
instruction  is  never  given — that  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  are  never  taught — 
that  piety  is  made  to  consist  in  outward  ceremonies,  in  the  observance  of  days, 
and  obedience  to  their  priests — that  their  idea  of  worship  is  the  repetition  of 
prayers  in  an  unknown  tongue — that  the  distinction  between  the  regenerate 
and  unregenerate  is  known  only  as  the  difference  between  the  baptized  and 
imbaptized — that  religion  is  separated  from  morality — that  the  priest  is  held  to 
have  power  to  pardon  sin,  and  does  it  for  money — that  their  preaching  is  either 
a  teaching  of  the  worst  errors  of  Popery,  or  incredible  and  silly  legends  of 

•  News  of  the  Churches,  Oct.  1st,  1860,  p.  254 


ARAB  CHARACTER.  9 

saints,  they  will  see  how  the  name  can  exist  without  the  substance.  True,  of' 
late  there  have  been  apparent  improvements  in  some  churches — such  as  might 
make  some  of  the  above  statements  seem  severe — but  with  few  exceptions,  and 
those  in  connection  with  missionary  labor.  It  is  not  a  movement  of  life  from 
within,  but  only  an  efibrt  to  put  out  of  sight  absurdities  too  gross  to  be  toler- 
ated any  longer.  The  whole  animus  of  these  churches  is  opposition  to  spiritual 
religion  and  Bible  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  want  of  power  to  do  so  has  pre- 
vented their  extinguishing  every  spark  of  light  in  Syria.  Happily,  the  power, 
unable  to  stop  the  entrance  of  light  at  first,  becomes  weaker  in  proportion  as 
that  light  extends  among  the  people. 

The  discouraging  nature  of  labor  among  such  a  people  may,  perhaps,  be 
better  understood  fi-om  the  following  incident  than  from  any  mere  description. 
In  the  early  history  of  the  Mission,  before  the  Arab  character  was  thoroughly 
understood,  a  poor  man  came  to  one  of  the  missionaries  in  great  distress.  Ac- 
cording to  his  account,  he  was  in  debt  a  Tew  dollars,  and  his  creditor  was  about 
to  cast  him  into  prison  till  he  should  pay  the  whole.  So  he  begged  for  the  loan 
of  that  sum  for  a  few  days,  oflfering  to  give  his  note  and  pledging  himself  to 
repay  it  in  the  course  of  a  few  days.  The  good  missionary,  moved  with  pity, 
granted  his  request ;  but  months  and  years  passed  and  no  payment  was  forth- 
coming. At  length  the  lender  left  the  mission,  and  the  Arab,  who  till  then 
had  been  very  assiduous  in  his  attendance  on  the  instructions  of  his  friend,  now 
transferred  his  attentions  to  Mr.  Thomson,  and  regularly  sat  among  those  who 
dropped  in  at  family  prayer — for  it  is  the  custom  of  the  missionaries  to  throw 
their  doors  open  every  evening,  and  after  some  time  devoted  to  social  inter- 
course, familiar  exposition  of  Scripture  and  prayer  close  the  evening.  Hap- 
pening one  day  to  be  riding  with  the  late  Dr.  Smith,  our  hopeful  inquirer 
among  other  matters  inquired  where  his  note  was.  "  With  me,"  was  the  quiet 
reply.  "Oh!  I  beg  your  pardon  a  thousand  times;  I  thought  Mr.  Thomson 
had  it,  and  I  have  been  attending  family -prayer  at  his  house  all  this  time."  It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  add,  that  this  was  the  way  in  which  the  man  intended 

^  to  pay  his  debt ;  and  Popish  methods  of  proselytism  had  led  him,  no  doubt, 
to  suppose  it  full  as  acceptable  as  any.  But  when  the  effort  to  make  sinners 
acquainted  with  Jesus  meets  daily  with  such  a  reception  from  men  at  once  su- 
premely selfish  and  inimitably  cunning,  it  requires  no  small  degree  of  faith  and 
love  to  persevere  in  such  labor.  And  just  such  has  been  the  constant  expe- 
rience of  missionaries  in  Syria,  save  as  the  grace  of  God  renews  the  heart. 
Such  incidents  explain  how  the  growth  of  Popery  is  in  form  and  name  alone, 
the  heart  and  conscience  having  little  to  do  with  it ;  while  the  real  influence 
of  Gospel  truth  extends  much  further  than  the  fear  of  persecution  allows  to 
appear. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  frequent  political  changes  have  greatly  retarded  the 

^  work.  To  go  back  no  further  than  1832.  In  that  year  the  movements  of  op- 
posing armies  and  the  establishment  of  the  dominion  of  Mohammed  Ah  called 
ofi"  the  thoughts  of  all  classes  fi-om  spiritual  things.  In  1840  the  same  dis- 
tractions were  repeated,  when  Syria  was  delivered  up  again  to  the  inefficient 
government  of  Turkey ;  and  missionary  undertakings  that  had  cost  the  painful 
toil  of  years  were  in  a  moment  brought  to  nothing.  Since  then  corruption  and 
misgovernment  have  produced  a  state  of  confusion  bordering  on  anarchy,  and 


10  THE   SYRIA  MISSION. 

parts  of  the  country  have  been  in  actual  rebellion,  as  was  Wadj'^  el  Teim,  tho 
rogion  around  Hasbeiya,  from  the  summer  of  1851  till  the  summer  of  1853. 
Civil  war  has  thrice  desolated  Lebanon  itself;  once  in  1841,  again  in  1845,  and 
last,  not  least,  in  I860.  As  an  intelligent  view  of  the  field  involves  a  correct 
understanding  of  these,  let  us  turn  aside  for  a  moment  and  look  at 

THE   CAUSES   OF   THE   CIVIL   WARS   IN   LEBANON. 

About  the  year  1824,  the  Maronite  Emir  Beshir  drove  out  from  Lebanon  his 
Druze  rival,  the  Sheikh  Beshir,  procured  his  assassination,  and  confiscated  his 
extensive  estates.  In  the  Egyptian  invasion  of  1832,  the  Druze  sheikhs  sided 
with  the  Sultan,  while  the  Emir  Beshir  went  over  to  the  invaders.  Hence  the 
former  shared  in  the  defeat  of  the  Turks,  were  heavily  taxed,  and  their  men 
forced  into  the  army  of  Ibrahim  Pasha.  Then  came  the  Druze  rebellion  in  the 
Hauran,  which  was  put  down  so  summarily  as  to  rouse  the  Arab  spirit  of 
revenge  to  the  utmost. 

In  1840  European  power  restored  Syria  to  the  Sultan,  and  the  Druzes  of 
course  recovered  their  rights  and  their  estates.  Their  conscripts  were  released 
irom  the  army,  while  they  themselves  had  been  previously  armed  by  England 
to  defend  themselves.  These  things  paved  the  way  to  civil  war,  while  the 
overturn  of  the  strong  government  of  Ibrahim  Pasha,  and  the  banishment  of 
the  energetic  Emir  Beshir,  left  an  imbecile  successor  to  the  same  title,  totally 
unable  to  control  the  rival  factions,  each  exasperated  by  their  wrongs. 

The  Maronites,  instead  of  conciliating  the  Druzes,  who  now  controlled  the 
largest  part  of  Lebanon,  encouraged  those  of  their  people  who  lived  in  villages 
vmder  Druze  sheikhs  to  throw  off  their  authority,  while  the  Patriarch,  hoard- 
ing for  war  purposes  the  money  sent  by  France  and  Austria  for  the  relief  of 
sufferers  in  the  recent  troubles,  aimed  at  the  complete  control  of  the  Mountain. 
He  appointed  a  committee  at  Deir  el  Komr,  that  interfered  openly  with  the 
administration  of  the  sheikhs,  and,  through  the  Maronite  council  of  the  Emir, 
every  thing  was  arranged  to  strip  them  of  their  power.  It  was  this  turbulent 
procedure  that  necessitated  the  close  of  our  seminary,  then  recently  opened  in 
Deir  el  Komr.  vind  a  more  marked  result  was  the  civil  war  of  1841,  when, 
though  the  Maronites  outnumbered  the  Druzes  three  to  one,  they  were  every 
where  shamefully  defeated ;  Deir  el  Komr,  Baabda,  and  Hadeth  taken,  and 
many  of  their  wealthiest  villages  destroyed.  During  all  this,  the  Turks  looked 
on  and  did  nothing.  The  Greeks  were  unmolested,  though  the  Greek  Catholics 
were  disarmed.  The  power  of  the  famous  Shehab  family,  to  which  the  Emir 
Beshir  belonged,  was  thoroughly  broken  ;  and  Lebanon,  which,  strong  in  their 
strength,  had  long  wielded  a  controlling  influence  in  Syria,  was  now  a  prey  to 
misgovernment  at  home. 

Yet  the  Shehab  family  were  still  numerous,  wealthy,  and  influential.  The 
Maronites  were  exasperated  by  defeat.  Their  clergy  urged  them  to  another 
effort  to  regain  their  power ;  and  as  government  suffered  things  to  take  their 
own  course,  the  result  was  the  war  of  1845,  in  which  the  Maronites  were  again 
beaten  and  driven  out  from  all  southern  Lebanon.  Most  of  their  towns  be- 
tween Sidon  and  the  Bukaa  (Coelo  Syria)  were  destroyed.  About  seven  thousand 
houses  were  burned — three  thousand  of  them  in  the  Metn  alone,  which,  being 
the  border  district,  bore  the  brunt  of  the  attack.    Many  flocks  were  plundered, 


CIVIL  WAES.  11 

the  silk  and  grain  crops  destroyed,  and  even  orchards  and  vineyards  wantonly 
cut  down.  The  road  from  Beirut  to  Damascus  now  formed  the  boundary  be- 
tween the  two  parties,  though  many,  encouraged  by  the  sheikhs,  returned  to 
their  homes  south  of  that  line  under  Druze  jurisdiction. 

This  state  of  things  continued,  with  occasional  outbreaks,  till  August  14th, 
1859,  when  a  bloody  conflict  took  place  at  Beit  Miri.  If  the  question  is  asked 
why  no  check  was  appHed,  the  answer  must  be,  Government  was  content  to 
have  the  parties  weaken  one  another,  that  both  might  fall  the  easier  prey  to  its 
rapacity.  The  Papal  clergy  threw  no  hindrance  in  the  way  of  events  ;  that, 
they  hoped,  would  work  out  defeat  for  the  Druzes  and  the  expulsion  of  Pro- 
testant missionaries  from  Lebanon.  In  1841  the  Maronite  Patriarch  went  so 
far  as  to  procure  a  demand  from  the  Sultan  to  our  ambassador  for  their 
removal.  Papal  representatives  of  European  powers  were  inactive  for  like 
reasons ;  and  while  the  way  was  thus  kept  open  for  mischief,  unexpected 
events  in  other  lands  gave  a  new  impulse  to  its  progress.  Reports  of  the 
mutiny  in  India  fanned  the  smoldering  embers  of  Moslem  fanaticism,  and 
the  outbreak  at  Jiddah  added  fuel  to  the  flame. 

On  the  27th  of  May,  1860,  the  Pasha  of  Beirut  encamped  north  of  Hadeth, 
ostensibly  to  check  the  approach  of  the  Maronites  from  Kesrawan,  but  suflPered 
six  hundred  of  them  to  march  past  him  to  Baabda.  On  the  29th,  war  began 
at  Beit  Mu-i,  which  before  night  was  in  flames.  Like  a  signal  fire,  this  roused 
all  Lebanon.  Forty  or  fifty  villages  were  burned,  and  thousands  of  famiUes 
lost  their  all.  Jezzin  and  the  Maronite  villages  in  that  region  were  destroyed, 
and  the  fugitives,  pursued  to  Sidon,  found  the  gates  shut  on  them,  while  Mos- 
lems and  Turkish  soldiers  came  out  to  help  the  Druzes  in  the  work  of  slaugh- 
ter. About  one  thousand  thus  perished.  Every  church  and  convent  was 
plundered  from  Jezzin  to  Sidon,  the  priests  and  monks  murdered  wherever 
found,  and  the  Maronites  driven  with  great  slaughter  beyond  the  Nahr  el  Kelb, 
(Ancient  Lycus.)  Hasbeiya  was  attacked  June  2d,  and  the  Christians  received 
into  the  castle  ostensibly  for  protection,  were  first  disarmed,  then  the  gates 
were  thrown  open  to  the  Druzes,  who  rushed  in  on  the  11th  and  butchered 
more  than  one  thousand  helpless  and  defenseless  victims.  One  of  them,  Shahin 
Abu  Barakat,  a  member  of  our  church  there,  after  exhorting  his  fellow-suf- 
ferers to  commit  themselves  to  Christ,  sank  under  the  Druze  axes  while  on  his 
knees  in  prayer.  Twenty-six  villages  in  the  vicinity  were  burned,  and  the 
whole  province  laid  desolate.  At  Piashaiya  the  Christians  were  promised 
safety  on  condition  they  gave  up  their  arms,  and  the  same  night  their  houses 
were  burned,  and  out  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  men  only  two  escaped.  A 
rumor  prevailed  that  government  sought  to  exterminate  the  Christians,  and 
Merj  Aiyun  was  burned  by  the  Metawelies  of  the  Bukaa.  Jtme  18th,  Zahleh, 
the  largest  town  in  Lebanon,  was  sacked  and  destroyed ;  even  the  heaps  of 
unwinnowed  grain  on  the  threshing-floors  in  the  fields  were  committed  to  the 
flames.  Deir  el  Komr  was  destroyed  June  21st,  one  hundred  and  fifty  houses 
laid  in  ashes,  and  the  male  inhabitants  put  to  the  sword.  The  most  dreadful 
carnage  of  all  commenced  at  Damascus  July  9th,  and  raged  without  cessation 
till  the  14th.  Moslems  were  the  leaders  in  this  work  of  blood,  aided  by  the 
Turkish  soldiers.  All  classes  joined  in  it,  the  rich  and  poor,  the  mob  and  the 
police.     Not  one  Christian  house  was  left  standing  in  Damascus.     Not  less 


12  THE   syPJA  MISSIOX. 

than  five  thousand  were  killed,  and  many  more  badly  wounded  ;  hundreds  ot 
females  were  carried  off  into  captivity,  and  not  even  Frank  oflQcials  were  spared. 
Every  consulate,  except  the  English  and  Russian,  was  burned.  The  Dutch 
Consular  Agent  was  killed,  and  the  American  Vice-Consul  severely  wounded. 
Rev.  Mr.  Graham,  an  English  missionary,  was  butchered  in  the  street  while 
fleeing  to  a  place  of  safety.* 

This  was  the  last,  as  it  certainly  was  the  bloodiest,  scene  in  the  tragedy,  but 
not  the  end  of  misery.  The  harvest  was  either  unreaped  or  destroyed.  The 
trees  in  many  places  were  cut  down.  The  fugitives  were  crowded  together  in 
strange  cities,  without  money  or  employment,  and  famine  threatened  the 
•\\Tetched  widows,  who  had  escaped  with  their  aged  mothers,  and  still  more 
helpless  daughters,  for  the  male  children  had  mostly  shared  in  the  bloody  fate 
of  their  fathers.  Notwithstanding  generous  aid  from  abroad,  sickness  caused 
by  privation  numbered  more  victims  than  the  sword. 

Yet,  dark  as  this  picture  is,  it  was  not  all  darkness.  Though  a  few  Protest- 
ants fell  at  Hasbeiya,  yet  in  all  Lebanon  not  one  of  them  was  injured,  either  in 
person  or  in  property.  Mr.  Bird  was  absent  from  Deir  el  Komr  on  the  day  of 
the  massacre,  yet  though  his  family  were  defenseless,  not  a  hair  of  their  head 
was  harmed  ;  and  remuneration  was  promptly  offered  for  a  school-house  that 
had  been  burned  by  mistake.  Our  premises  at  Abeih  were  first  the  depository 
for  the  valuables  of  the  Maronites,  and  afterward  of  the  Druzes,  and  in  both 
cases  not  an  article  was  touched,  though  no  guard  was  kept,  and  we  had  no 
power  to  avenge  an  injury.  Other  families  reached  Beirut  in  safety ;  and  Mr. 
Calhoun  remained  at  his  post  unmolested  through  the  war. 

The  direct  results  of  this  war  on  our  operations  were  doubtless  injurious. 
I  Some  stations  were  broken  up  for  a  time.  Many  hearts  were  hardened  by  suf- 
fering, and  immorality  increased  through  the  homeless  poverty  of  many  ex- 
posed to  temptation.  But  the  general  result  shows  much  that  calls  for  grati- 
tude. The  p9wer  of  the  clergy  that  martyred  Asaad  El  Shidiak,  and  formed 
the  greatest  hindrance  to  the  progress  of  the  truth,  weakened  by  previous  wars, 
in  this  received  its  death-blow.  The  people  remembered  that  their  priests 
urged  them  to  it.  It  is  a  significant  fact,  that  after  the  war,  the  Governor  of 
Kesrawan  absolutely  forbade  the  clergy,  from  the  patriarch  down  to  the  par- 
ish-priest, to  interfere  any  further  in  political  affairs  ;  and  shorn  of  their 
dreaded  political  power,  they  are  now  weak  as  other  men.  Indeed,  when  since 
that  time,  they  offered  to  allow  the  eating  of  meat  during  Lent,  for  the  pay- 
ment of  about  four  cents  a  day,  many  said  at  once,  if  the  act  be  wrong  in  it- 
self, the  payment  of  money  can  not  make  it  right,  and  so  refused  both  fast  and 
payment. 

Again,  the  war  brought  missionaries  into  more  extensive  and  favorable  inter- 
course with  the  people  than  ever  before.  At  different  times,  as  many  as 
75,000  persons  in  all,  were  fed  daily  from  their  hands.  At  one  time,  2500 
were  fed  in  Beirut,  by  native  members  of  our  church  ;  60,000  piastres,  ($2400,) 
contributed  in  England  and  America,  were  distributed  every  week  by  the  mis- 

*  Belrfit  narrowly  escaped  similar  scenes  at  a  later  date.  The  plans  of  the  fanatical  Moslems  were  all 
formed.  The  houses  even  were  marked  that  were  to  be  passed  over  that  night  in  the  general  carnage. 
15ut  the  vigorous  measures  of  Ismael  Pasha,  a  native  of  Hungary,  foiled  the  conspirators  and  prevented 
the  massacre. 


CHURCHES.  13 

sionaries  ;  Dr.  Thomson  having  charge  of  the  clothing,  bedding,  etc.  ;  Dr.  Van 
Dyck  devoting  his  time  to  the  sick ;  and  Mr.  Jessup  dealing  out  daily  bread  to 
the  starving  multitudes.  Beside  all  this  at  Beirut,  Mr.  Lyons  visited  the  vicin- 
ity of  Baalbek,  on  the  same  errand  ;  and  Mr.  Eddy  ministered  to  the  thousands 
who  had  fled  to  Tyre  for  refuge.  Yet,  out  of  15,000  widows,  there  were  only 
twenty  Protestants.  Such  a  refutation  of  the  slanders,  by  which  the  clergy 
had  sought  for  more  than  forty  years  to  fence  out  the  missionaries  from  the 
people,  could  not  but  produce  a  reaction  in  favor  of  the  truth.  During  some 
months  there  was  daily  preaching  at  Beirut.  Ain  Zehalty,  a  Greek  village  high 
up  on  Lebanon,  in  the  district  of  Arkub,  is  now  Protestant,  its  ruler  a  member 
of  the  church ;  and  is  the  only  instance  in  Syria,  where  an  ancient  church, 
purged  of  pictures  and  altar,  is  devoted  to  the  preaching  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus. 

In  all  the  trials  of  this  mission,  though  sickness  and  other  causes  have  con- 
strained some  to  return  home,  the  missionaries  generally  have  stood  at  their 
posts,  and  sought  to  bear  up  the  courage  of  the  churches,  on  the  wings  of  theii' 
own  faith. 

Amid  the  discouragements  of  1841  and  1842,  the  lamented  Dr.  Eli  Smith, 
though  his  mind  was  never  free  from  anxiety  respecting  the  prospects  of  the 
mission,  yet  pleaded  against  its  being  abandoned  by  the  churches,  and  was 
content  to  do  good  by  piece-meal,  as  opportunity  offered,  assured  that  all  the 
preparatory  labor  then  performed  would  one  day  yield  abundant  fruit. 

In  1845,  the  mission  wrote :  "  Oor  history  presents  so  many  instances  of 
most  marked  divine  interposition,  in  behalf  of  the  mission,  that  it  would  indi- 
cate feeble  faith  indeed,  if  we  should  be  greatly  cast  down  by  present  diflBcul- 
ties."  And  in  1861,  while  the  waves  of  the  storm  of  1S60  were  still  raging,  a 
beloved  brother  still  at  his  post  writes :  "To  the  question.  Are  you  discour- 
aged ?  we  answer.  No.  The  walls  of  Jerusalem  were  built  in  troublous 
times.  Storm  and  tempest  are  as  needful  as  the  dew  and  sunshine.  We  may 
see  darker  times  than  ever,  and  we  may  see  lighter ;  but  light  or  dark,  our 
duty  is  plain.  We  are  to  hold  on  till  the  Divine  hand  itself  loosens  our  hold  , 
we  may  and  ought  to  walk  in  the  light  of  God."  The  mission  in  Syria  now 
stands  on  higher  vantage-ground  than  ever  before  ;  and  those  "  who  are  alive 
and  remain  "  there,  now  begin  to  realize  the  truth,  that  they  who  sow  in  tears 
shall  reap  in  joy. 

CHURCHES. 

Soon  after  their  establishment  in  Syria,  the  missionaries  organized  a  church 
among  themselves,  into  which  they  received  such  natives  as  from  time  to  time 
gave  evidence  of  piety.  The  number  of  these,  however,  for  some  years  was 
very  small. 

In  1839,  the  Arabic  preaching,  till  then  conducted  in  the  mission-house,  was 
removed  to  a  chapel,  expressly  devoted  to  that  purpose.  February  9th,  1848, 
the  native  brethren,  stimulated  by  the  example  of  the  Armenian  converts  in  Con- 
stantinople, presented  a  petition  and  plan  for  organization  to  the  mission.  Cer- 
tain modifications  were  suggested,  "  in  order  that  their  organization  might  not  ma- 
terially differ  from  that  already  recognized  in  other  parts  of  the  empire."  The 
only  important  difference  is  in  the  following  article  :  "  When  the  EvangeUcal 


14  THE  SYRIA  MISSION. 

churches  in  Syria  become  three  or  more  in  number,  the  cases  of  disagreement 
in  the  pai-ticular  churches  shall  be  referred  to  a  regular  council  of  the  elders  and 
delegates  of  the  other  sister  churches,  each  church  choosing  one  delegate,  and 
the  decision  of  such  council  shall  be  final."*  The  Armenian  plan  provided  for 
a  permanent  body,  composed  of  "  the  elders  and  delegates  of  the  associated 
churches,"  for  similar  action  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  but  did  not  specify  when  it 
should  be  formed. 

The  church  in  Beirut  then  constituted,  was  organized  with  nineteen  mem- 
bers.    Other  churches  have  since  been  formed  as  follows  : 

1851,  July  15,  at  Hasbeiya,  of  sixteen  members. 

1852,  June  13,    at  Aleppo,  of  six  members. 
1852,  September  15,  at  Abelh,  of  eight  members. 
1856,  June,  at  Sidon,  of  seven  members. 

The  number  belonging  to  these  churches,  at  the  close  of  1860,  was  117 ; 
whole  number  from  the  beginning,  153.  It  may  give  some  idea  of  recent  pro- 
gress to  state,  that  while  in  1835  only  50  souls  attended  preaching  at  two 
places,  and  in  1847  no  more  than  90  could  be  counted  at  three  places,  in  1860, 
sixteen  places  for  regular  preaching  h£,d  an  aggregate  attendance  of  550  hear- 
ers. At  the  principal  places,  there  are  two  regular  services  on  the  Sabbath, 
besides  an  expository  service,  or  in  some  places  a  Sabbath-school.  Singing  has 
been  successfully  introduced  in  connection  with  the  Arabic  hymn-book,  con- 
taining 103  hymns.  Beside  the  Sabbath  services,  a  prayer-meeting  or  meet- 
ings are  sustained  durine  the  week. 


No  sketch  of  the  Syria  mission  could  be  complete  that  did  not  give  an 
account  of  the  remarkable  movement  at  this  place. 

Wady  el  Teim  lies  between  a  low  range  of  hills  that  separates  it  from  the 
Bukaa  on  the  west,  and  the  lofty  sides  of  Jebel  esh  Sheikh  on  the  east,  rising  to 
the  hight  of  10,000  feet  above  the  sea.  These  eastern  slopes  are  thickly  in- 
habited, and  terraced  like  the  western  declivities  of  Lebanon.  The  valley  is 
divided  into  two  provinces,  and  in  the  lower  of  these,  overhanging  a  narrow 
glen  that  joins  the  main  valley,  where  the  large  fountain  of  the  Hasbany  com- 
mences the  river  Jordan,  stands  the  town  of  Hasbeiya.  It  is  a  hot  place,  al- 
most shut  in  by  high  hills,  and  before  the  massacre  contained  6000  inhabitants, 
mostly  Greeks  and  Druzes,  though  there  are  some  Maronites  and  a  few  Moslems 
and  Greek  Catholics.  The  Wady  is  governed  by  emirs  of  the  Shehab  family, 
who  received  it  as  a  reward  for  their  deeds  of  valor  in  the  time  of  Saladin.  Yet, 
though  their  tenure  is  so  ancient,  it  holds  good  only  as  it  is  renewed  from  time 
to  time  by  the  Pasha  of  Damascus.  The  Druze  Sheikhs  of  the  house  of  Shems 
constitute  the  ancient  hereditary  nobility,  though  they  are  giving  place  to  the 
later  but  more  vigorous  house  of  Keis. 

The  whole  region  is  noted  for  the  rude  energy  and  independence  of  its  in- 
habitants, that  too  often  degenerates  into  lawlessness.  Yet  this  same  wild  force 
of  character  led  the  Hasbeiyans,  as  far  back  as  1826,  to  offer  a  house  to  the 

♦  For  Petition,  Constitution,  and  Discipline  in  full,  see  Missionary  Herald,  1848,  pp.  266-270.  For 
Confession  of  Fiiltli  and  Covenant,  see  Missionary  Herald,  1846,  pp.  318  and  819. 


HASBEIYA.  15 

mission  for  a  school  among  them.  And  the  Missionary  Herald  for  1851,  page 
869,  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  result  of  the  bread  cast  on  the  waters 
so  long  ago.  Yet  up  to  1844  no  missionary  had  visited  Hasbeiya,  though  our 
books  had  found  their  way  there,  and  some  of  the  people  had  visited  Mr.  Whit- 
ing at  Jerusalem. 

February  25,  1844,  the  Sabbath  congregation  in  our  chapel  at  Beirut  was 
unexpectedly  enlarged  by  the  presence  of  fifty  Hasbeiyans,  who  made  an  urgent 
appeal  for  religious  teachers.  Like  most  movements  of  the  kind  in  Syria,  it 
was  found  that  this  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  secular  ends  ;  so  the  mission- 
aries were  very  careful  to  set  forth  their  disconnection  with  the  things  of  Cgesar 
and  their  want  of  influence  in  political  affairs ;  also,  that  the  change  they  sought 
to  effect  was  not  from  one  sect  to  another,  but  from  sin  to  God.  Finding, 
moreover,  that  they  had  not  paid  their  taxes,  they  advised  them  to  go  home  and 
pay  them,  cultivate  the  good  will  of  the  town,  and  if  then  they  still  wished  in- 
struction, to  let  them  know  and  they  should  have  it.  This  they  did,  hardly 
expecting  to  hear  from  them  again.  But  the  men  did  as  they  had  been  ad- 
vised, and  soon  sent  a  letter  claiming  from  the  missionaries  the  fulfillment  of 
their  promise.  As  some  delay  occurred,  another  delegation  was  promptly  on 
hand  to  press  the  request,  and  the  teachers  previously  appointed  set  off  at  once, 
charged  to  confine  themselves  strictly  to  spiritual  instruction.  This  they  did 
faithfully,  and  the  drunkard  soon  forsook  his  cups,  the  knave  became  an  honest 
man,  the  profme  ceased  to  swear,  and  the  name  Protestant  became  synony- 
mous with  all  that  was  trustworthy  and  commendable.  The  Bible  and  the 
Shorter  Catechism  were  constantly  studied  to  know  what  to  believe  concerning 
God,  and  what  duty  God  requires  of  man.  When  two  of  the  missionaries 
visited  the  place  in  May,  though  they  found  the  rest  of  Hasbeiya  spending  the 
Sabbath  in  sending  a  delegation  to  Beirut  to  seek  relief  from  a  Kurdish  Aga 
who  had  overbidden  their  own  emir  and  was  about  to  assume  his  place,  yet  the 
Protestants  quietly  attended  to  the  duties  of  the  day,  and  would  have  nothing 
to  do  with  politics  till  Monday.  It  was  interesting  to  see  this  regard  for  the 
Sabbath  among  them,  and  also  to  find  the  rest  deferring  to  send  off  the  dele- 
gation till  the  Protestants  could  join  them.  Thus  the  arm  of  persecution  was 
held  back  till  the  Bible  men  could  learn  the  truth  that  would  enable  them  to 
bear  it  when  it  came. 

One  of  their  greatest  difficulties  was  to  understand  the  spiritual  nature  of 
the  Church.  They  could  not  see  how,  having  all  come  to  the  Lord's  table  in 
the  Greek  Church,  now  that  they  knew  more  and  lived  more  correctly,  they 
should  be  excluded  from  it,  and  to  have  the  rite  of  baptism  withheld  from  their 
children,  was,  in  their  view,  to  be  without  religion  altogether.  Their  enemies 
also,  made  it  an  occasion  for  reproach  and  reviling.  Yet,  after  a  full  exposition 
of  the  matter  by  Dr.  Smith  on  July  4th,  the  next  day  82  men  and  104  women 
ojid  children  were  publicly  enrolled  as  Protestants.  Now  came  the  trial  of  their 
smcerity.  Things  had  advanced  so  far  that  the  enemies  of  the  truth  could  en- 
dure it  no  longer.  They  threatened  the  life  of  our  native  helper,  and  the 
turbulent  zealots  of  Zahleh  avowed  their  purpose  to  put  down  the  movement 
by  force  of  arms.  Instantly,  without  the  least  suggestion  from  others,  76  men 
solemnly  signed  a  written  covenant  to  stand  by  each  other  in  defense  of  the 
truth  even  unto  death. 


16  THE  STRIA  MISSION. 

Meanwhile,  a  school  had  been  established,  and  encouraging  progress  was 
made  not  only  in  learning,  but  in  bringing  children  hitherto  as  wild  as  untamed 
colts,  into  something  like  habits  of  order  and  propriety. 

A  "Young  Men's  Party,"  originally  formed  to  resist  the  oppression  of  their 
governors,  now  bent  its  energies  to  persecute  the  friends  of  the  Bible,  and  so 
far  got  the  reins  into  its  own  hands,  as  to  compel  the  Emir  to  depose  the  Kadi 
and  appoint  one  of  their  own  number  in  his  place,  and  then  agree  not  to  punish 
any  of  them  unless  convicted  by  him.  Besides  all  this,  they  made  him  promise 
to  banish  the  leader  of  the  Protestants,  and  themselves  sent  him  a  written 
order  to  leave  the  town  on  pain  of  death  if  he  refused.  With  such  a  powerful 
party  arrayed  against  them,  a  court  ready  to  do  its  bidding,  and  a  governor 
who  had  thus  abandoned  his  power  to  punish  evil-doers,  any  injury  might  be 
inflicted  on  them  with  impunity,  for  they  lay  completely  at  the  mercy  of  their 
foes.  So  the  men  fled  to  Abcih  at  the  end  of  July,  leaving  their  famiUes  be- 
hind, and  remained  there  till  October,  when  a  new  governor  was  appointed, 
more  disposed  to  do  his  duty.  But  the  Greek  Patriarch  came  to  Hasbeiya  on 
the  day  of  their  return,  ostensibly  to  quiet  his  own  people,  but  really  to  force 
them  back  into  the  Greek  communion.  Thus  things  continued  for  some  time, 
the  truth  still  being  preached ;  but  its  adherents  sensibly  diminished.  Still  the 
enemy  did  not  rest  till  the  good  governor  was  set  aside  for  another  more  in  ac- 
cordance with  their  wishes.  Then  on  two  successive  Sabbaths  the  Bible  men 
were  stoned  in  the  streets  and  our  native  helper  seriously  wounded,  while  the 
new  Governor  looked  on  with  a  faint  show  of  resistance  that  only  emboldened 
evil-doers,  as  he  intended  that  it  should,  till  the  native  preacher  was  driven 
from  the  place,  and  some  of  the  Protestants  again  fled  to  Lebanon.  Others, 
wearied  with  persecutions  to  which  they  could  see  no  end,  complied  so  far  with 
tlie  demands  of  the  Patriarch,  as  to  visit  the  Greek  Church,  though  they  took 
no  part  in  the  services,  and  openly  spoke  against  its  idolatries.  This  very  par- 
tial compliance  relieved  them  from  persecution,  but  inwardly  made  them  more 
firmly  opposed  to  an  organization  that  stooped  to  such  measures  to  retain  its 
adherents. 

Thus  the  leaven  wrought  in  secret,  till  in  February,  1846,  the  visits  of  the 
missionaries  were  again  resumed,  and  though  their  congregations  were  smaller, 
yet  they  were  more  encouraging,  for  now  they  were  mainly  made  up  of  those 
who  sought  to  know  the  way  of  life,  while  the  people  of  the  town,  softened  by 
the  war  of  1845,  were  not  disposed  as  before  to  persecute.  Still,  opposition  to 
the  truth  had  not  ceased,  for  we  hear  of  one  mother,  whose  drunken  son  had 
attended  the  meetings  and  left  off  his  evil  habits,  telling  him  to  return  to  his 
cups  rather  than  be  classed  among  the  Bible  men. 

In  the  spring  of  1847,  the  Protestants  sent  one  of  their  number  to  lay  their 
gi-ievances  before  the  Sultan,  and  without  the  aid  of  any  ambassador,  received 
a  strong  order  to  the  Pasha  of  Damascus  for  their  protection.  The  spirit  of 
the  people  at  this  time  is  thus  described  by  their  missionary.  "  They  like  to 
hear  a  good,  long  exposition,  and  then  stay  to  hear  and  converse  after  prayer 
as  long  as  we  are  able  to  sit  up.  They  come  in  at  all  times  during  the  day,  so 
that  we  scarcely  cease  teaching  and  preaching  from  morning  till  bedtime."  Per- 
secution was  now  revived  more  to  deter  others  fi-om  joining  them  than  from 
any  hope  of  turning  them  ;  and  they,  unable  to  meet  in  the  daytime,  met 


EDUCATION.  17 

eecretly  for  prayer  at  midnight.  One  of  the  firmest  of  them  all,  after  being 
fined  and  scourged,  was  shut  up  in  prison,  and  a  friend  found  him  late  at  night 
veiy  happy  in  repeating  over  passages  of  Scripture  and  in  prayer. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1848,  religious  toleration  triumphed,  so  far  as  the 
Turkish  government  was  concerned;  but  as  soon  as  the  Patriarch  saw  that  he 
could  no  longer  rely  on  the  secular  arm,  he  tried  the  efi"ect  of  his  dreaded 
anathema,  which  was  read  against  them  in  all  the  churches  round  about,  (soe 
case  of  Mr.  Bird  at  Ehden,  page  G,  for  specimen  of  sentence  of  excommunication,) 
denouncing  a  like  fate  against  all  who  should  have  the  least  intercourse  with  them 
in  any  way.  This  reduced  them,  especially  those  among  them  who  were  poor, 
for  a  while  to  the  greatest  distress  ;  yet,  with  only  one  exception,  their  faith 
did  not  fail,  and  soon,  through  their  steadfastness,  they  obtained  entire  religi- 
ous liberty,  for  the  people  could  not  be  persuaded  to  continue  to  treat  as  ac- 
cursed men  whose  good  behavior  was  known  and  read  of  all.  Thus  they 
dwelt  together  in  love  with  one  another,  their  greatest  enemies  constrained  to 
be  at  peace  with  them,  till  the  organization  of  their  church  July  5,  1852.  For 
a  delightful  picture  of  Hasbeiyan  piety  at  this  period,  which  we  would  gladly 
copy  had  we  room  for  it,  see  Missionary  Herald,  1852,  page  34.  John 
Wortabet  now  came  and  preached  among  them  ■with  great  acceptance  ;  yet  at 
this  time  and  for  nearly  two  years,  the  whole  region  was  a  prey  to  anarchy ; 
society  was  disorganized,  the  roads  were  infested  by  robbers  ;  bands  of  Druzes 
and  Arabs  ranged  over  mountain  and  plain,  and  plundered  at  their  pleasure. 
The  town  itself  was  several  times  in  their  hands,  and  men  could  meet  for 
worship  only  as  they  carried  their  guns,  ready  at  any  moment  for  instant 
service. 

The  Druze  sheikhs,  moreover,  got  into  a  quarrel  with  the  British  Consul  at 
Damascus,  on  matters  entirely  distinct  from  religion  ;  yet,  as  he  was  a  Protest- 
ant, they  vented  their  rage  on  the  little  flock  at  Hasbeiya.  Dissensions  also 
broke  out  among  themselves ;  but  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  several  cases  of  dis- 
cipline were  carried  through  wisely,  firmly  and  with  good  success,  without  any 
help  from  the  missionaries.  They  made  their  preparations,  too,  to  build  a 
church,  which  was  completed  in  1854,  at  their  own  expense,  with  rooms  be- 
neath for  schools  and  prayer-meetings,  besides  sending  $28  in  1853  to  aid  in 
the  circulation  of  Bibles  in  China.  And  so  they  continued  the  comparatively 
even  tenor  of  their  way,  the  Gospel  making  rapid  progress  in  the  region  round 
about  them,  till  the  massacre  in  1860,  when  their  beautiful  church  was  burned, 
though  the  walls  remain.  Two  of  the  members  were  killed,  one  as  already  de- 
scribed, and  the  other  a  poor  leper,  whom  Christ  had  chosen  to  be  a  temple  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Five  or  six  others  perished,  making  some  seven  or  eight  in 
all.  The  Christian  population  of  Hasbeiya  has  not  yet  returned,  but  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  Master  permitted  that  night  of  weeping  only  to 
prepare  the  way  for  a  morning  of  greater  joy,  that  the  first  rude  structure  is 
taken  out  of  the  way  only  to  make  room  for  a  more  glorious  building,  that  shall 
rise  hereafter  to  his  praise. 

EDUCATION. 

In  1824  Tanniis  el  Haddad  was  employed  to  teach  a  school  in  Beirut,  and 
ever  since  the  mission  has  had  more  or  less  free-schools  under  its  care.     In 
1835  it  had  10  schools,  with  325  pupils,  85  of  them  girls ;  in  1845  it  had  12 
2 


18  THE   SYRIA  MISSION. 

schools,  with  606  pupils,  182  of  them  girls;  and  in  1855,  25  schools,  with  836 
pupils,  173  of  them  girls.  The  highest  number  of  schools  was  in  1859,  when 
there  were  38.  The  largest  number  of  pupils  was  1065,  in  1858.  These 
schools  have  been  constantly  increasing  in  value  as  the  standard  of  education 
has  been  raised,  and  pious  teachers  have  been  employed  in  their  instruction. 
The  largest  number  of  such  was  14,  in  the  year  1859 ;  the  average  for  the  twelve 
previous  years  was  nearly  7. 

In  1836  a  high-school  was  established  at  Beirut.  The  course  of  study  was 
extensive,  embracing  the  Arabic  and  English  languages,  geography  and  astro- 
nomy, civil  and  ecclesiastical  history,  natural  and  moral  philosophy,  mathe- 
matics, rhetoric,  natural  theology,  and  the  Bible.  The  number  of  pupils  rose 
as  high  as  forty -four,  and  its  prospects  were  flattering ;  but  their  knowledge  of 
English  rendered  the  pupils  so  useful  to  the  English  officers  in  Beirut,  in  1840, 
that  they  be(»me  completely  demoralized,  and  the  school  was  given  up. 

Another  seminary  was  commenced  in  1848,  on  a  purely  missionary  basis  ; 
the  English  language  was  excluded,  and  the  course  of  study  adapted  to  qualify 
the  students  for  usefulness  among  their  own  people.  The  Bible  occupied  a 
very  prominent  place,  as  said  the  principal  in  1859:  "To  the  Scriptures  we 
give  increased  attention.  The  Bible  is  doing  more  to  unfold  and  expand  the 
intellectual  powers,  and  to  create  careful  and  honest  thinkers,  than  all  the 
sciences  we  teach,  and  at  the  same  time  it  is  the  chief  instrument  in  ridding 
mind  and  heart  of  those  hateful  doctrines  and  traditions  which  are  the  inherit- 
ance of  these  sons  of  the  Church."  The  regular  course  occupies  four  years ; 
but  there  is  generally  an  additional  class,  composed  of  pious  men  more  ad- 
vanced in  life,  who  pursue  a  shorter  course,  more  exclusively  Biblical  and  theo- 
logical. This  institution  thus  far  has  been  a  most  efficient  auxiliary  in  the 
missionary  work,  and  has  enjoyed  such  refreshings  from  on  high  as  make  its 
teachers  feel  that  their  labors  are  not  unapproved  of  God. 

The  mission  had  long  endeavored  to  do  something  for  the  education  of 
females  in  Syria.  But  the  first  schools  for  girls  were  opened  in  1885  ;  one  of 
twenty-five  pupils  by  Mrs.  S.  L.  Smith  in  Beirut,  assisted  by  Mrs.  Gregory 
Wortabet,  and  a  smaller  one  in  Aaleih  by  Mrs.  Dodge. 

Mrs.  S.  L.  Smith  first,  and  then  Mrs.  Whiting  and  Mrs.  De  Forest  afterward, 
received  a  number  of  young  ladies  into  their  families  for  education  ;  and  in 
1849  the  family  school  of  the  latter  expanded  ir^to  a  flourishing  female  seminary 
of  seventeen  pupils,  which  was  carried  on  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  De  Forest  till  failing 
health  compelled  their  return  to  America  in  1854.  It  was  then  suspended,  for 
want  of  teachers,  till  reopened  in  October,  1856,  under  the  cliarge  of  Miss 
Sarah  Cheney.  It  has  continued  to  flourish  under  the  able  superintendence  of 
Miss  Amelia  C.  Temple,  assisted  by  Miss  A.  L.  Mason,  though  just  now  it  is 
temporarily  suspended  through  the  pressure  of  the  times. 

THE     PRESS. 

Until  1835  the  printing  for  this  mission  was  done  in  Malta;  and  not  much 
^as  done  in  Bcirfit  until  Dr.  Eli  Smith,  who  had  the  superintendence  of  this 
department,  introduced  in  1841  a  new  and  beautiful  form  of  Arabic  type.  To 
prepare  this,  he  first  made  a  collection  of  the  most  perfect  specimens  of  Arabic 
caligraphy ;  from  among  these  he  selected  those  most  approved  by  their  best 


THE   PRESS.  19 

scholars.  Mr.  Homan  Ilallock,  then  in  Smyrna,  made  the  punches,  and  drove 
the  matrices,  which  were  afterward  finished  by  the  celebrated  Tauchnitz,  of 
Lcipsic  ;  and  the  result  is  a  type  incomparably  superior  to  any  known  before, 
and  which  secures  the  unqualified  admiration  of  every  intelligent  native. 

Mr.  George  C.  Hurter  began  his  labors  as  printer,  with  the  new  type,  in 
April,  1841.  In  1851  the  printing  establishment  consisted  only  of  one  hand- 
press  and  two  fonts  of  Arabic  type,  with  a  less  amount  of  English,  in  connec- 
tion with  a  foundrj'^  and  bindery.  In  1853  a  power  cylinder-press  was  added, 
with  another  font  of  Arabic  type.  In  1858  a  fourth  font  was  added,  adapted 
1.0  the  printing  of  commentaries  on  the  Bible, 

Up  to  1852  the  whole  number  of  pages  printed  was  about  80,000,000,  and 
since  then  about  33,000,000  more.  In  1860,  8006  books  and  tracts  were  issued, 
beside  4293  volumes  of  Scripture,  or  portions  of  Scripture,  from  the  depository. 

Among  the  forty -four  different  works  that  have  been  issued,  two  are  on  Arabic 
grammar.  One  of  them,  that  has  gone  through  two  editions,  was  written  by 
Naseef  fel  Yazigee,  who  had  long  been  in  the  employ  of  the  Mission.  Two 
editions  of  an  arithmetic,  by  Butrus  el  Bistany,  a  native  helper ;  an  algebra  and 
geography,  by  Di*.  Van  Dyck. 

Among  the  translations  are  a  volume  of  extracts  from  Chrysostom  on  the 
study  of  the  Scripture,  Thomas  k  Kempis,  Kevins  on  Popery,  Pilgrirn's  Pro- 
gress, the  Shorter  Catechism.,  and  Alexander's  Evidences  of  Christianity. 

Of  original  works  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  Eli  Smith  on  the  Office  and  WorJc  of 
the  Sj^irit,  256  pp.  1843.  Mr.  Bird's  letters  on  the  controversy  with  Eome, 
467  pp.  2d  ed.  1849.  Work  by  Dr.  Michael  Meshakah,  of  Damascus,  of  a 
kindred  character,  324  pp.  1849,  since  reprinted  with  additions.  Another, 
called  Answer  of  the  Bible-Men  to  the  Friends  of  Tradition,  115  pp.  1852,  and 
a  third  called  out  by  the  reply  of  the  Patriarch  Maximus  to  the  former,  128 
pp.  1854.  Also  a  treatise  on  Skepticism,  by  the  same  author  (See  Bil.  Sacra, 
October,  1858.)  An  Arabic  hymn-book,  186  pp.  1857,  and  a  Companion  to  the 
Bible,  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  for  the  use  of  the  Seminary,  pp.  185. 

But  in  this  connection  the  new  translation  of  the  Bible  especially  claims  our 
notice.  The  version  hitherto  circulated  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  was  a  reprint  of  the  Propaganda  edition  of  1671,  which  again  was  an 
ancient  translation,  revised  by  a  Maronite  bishop  of  Damascus,  during  the 
Pontificate  of  Urban  the  Eighth.  It  is  a  servile  imitation  of  the  Vulgate.  The 
rendering  of  the  historical  parts  is  intelligible,  but  the  meaning  of  the  Epistles 
is  often  obscure,  and  their  doctrinal  arguments  robbed  of  almost  all  their  force. 
Much  of  the  prophetical  and  practical  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  is  either  un- 
meaning or  in  bad  taste,  and  the  whole  version  is  neither  classical  nor  gram- 
matical. The  missionaries  could  not  put  it  into  the  hands  of  literary  natives 
without  an  apology  for  its  awkwardness  and  errors,  and  some  of  them  never 
read  it  in  public  without  previous  revision. 

Such  being  the  version  selected  from  among  all  others  as  the  best,  a  new 
transliition  was  imperatively  needed,  and  it  was  with  this  end  in  view  that  Dr. 
Smith  devoted  himself  with  such  zeal  to  the  improvement  of  Arabic  printing. 
Besides  this,  he  procured  the  best  philological  helps,  both  printed  and  in  manu- 
script, from  Europe  and  the  East.  The  most  competent  native  assistants  were 
engaged,  and  in  1848  his  preparation  was  complete.     He  carried  on  the  work 


20  THE  SYRIA  MISSION. 

with  the  most  laborious  diligence,  and  at  his  decease,  in  1857,  had  got  nearly 
ready  for  the  press  the  New  Testament  and  the  Pentateuch ;  and  he  left  in 
much  the  same  condition  the  first  seven  of  the  minor  Prophets,  namely, 
Hosea,  Joel,  Amos.  Obadiah,  Jonah,  Micah,  and  Nahum.  Isaiah  was  revised 
to  the  end  of  the  fifty-second  chapter ;  but  so  scrupulous  was  he  in  his  regard 
for  accuracy,  that  he  withheld  his  sanction  fi-om  all  but  the  books  of  Genesis 
and  Exodus  and  the  first  ten  chapters  of  Matthew.  He  doubtless  laid  the 
foundation  of  one  of'  the  best  versions  of  the  Scriptures  in  any  language,  and 
since  his  death  Dr.  Van  Dyck  has  carried  on  the  work  in  the  same  spirit.  Tho 
New  Testament  was  published  early  in  1860,  and  the  Old  Testament  is  now 
rapidly  approaching  completion.  It  is  some  evidence  of  the  acceptableness  of 
the  work  that,  as  soon  as  it  was  published,  notwithstanding  the  war,  4293 
copies  of  the  New  Testament  were  immediately  sold  for  18,395  piastres,  a 
striking  contrast  to  448  copies  sold  the  year  before.  The  pocket-edition  was 
exhausted,  and  a  demand  made  for  1500  more  copies  than  could  be  supplied. 
It  is  a  further  proof  of  the  excellence  of  the  work  that  a  great  part  of  this  de- 
mand was  from  Egypt.  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  had  previously 
applied  for  permission  to  adopt  and  print  it  instead  of  their  former  issue.  It 
was  published  at  the  expense  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 

Dr.  Van  Dyck  is  also  publishing  an  edition  of  the  New  Testament  suitable 
for  Mohammedans,  being  written  with  vowels,  in  the  same  style  as  their  Koran, 
and  it  is  hoped  that  an  edition  will  soon  be  issued  in  large  type,  for  the  use  of 
those  whose  eyes  will  not  permit  them  to  read  the  smaller  editions. 

As  this  translation  brings  the  word  of  God,  in  an  intelligible  and  acceptable 
form,  to  so  many  millions  of  our  race,  ought  not  special  prayer  to  be  ofiercd 
that  it  may  be  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  give  them  the  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 

PRESENT   VIEW   OF   STATIONS. 

In  the  year  1860  the  Syria  Mission  had  seven  stations  and  eleven  out-stations, 
with  ten  ordained  missionaries,  one  of  them  also  a  physician,  one  printer,  and 
thirteen  females,  two  of  them  teachers,  being  in  all  twenty-four  Americans. 

Of  natives  connected  with  the  Mission,  there  were  five  native  preachers, 
nineteen  teachers,  and  five  other  helpers,  being  in  all  twenty -nine  natives. 

Beirut.  Station  commenced  in  1823.  Population  70,000.  Missionaries : 
"Wm.  M.  Thomson,  D.D.,  C.  V.  A.  Van  Dyck,  M.D. ;  Mrs.  Maria  Thomson, 
Mrs.  Julia  A.  Van  Dyck.  George  0.  Hurter,  printer.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Hurter. 
One  native  preacher,  three  teachers,  and  one  helper.  Church  thirty-four 
members.     Printing  establishment. 

Abeih.  Commenced  in  1843.  Population  800.  Missionary:  Simeon  H. 
Calhoun  ;  Mrs.  Emily  P.  Calhoun.  One  native  teacher  and  preacher.  Out-sta- 
tion :  Aramon.     Seminary,  fifteen  pupils.     Chui'ch,  twenty-six  members. 

Tripoli.  Commenced  in  1848.  Population  18,000.  Missionary :  Henry 
H.  Jcssup  ;  Mrs.  Caroline  Jessup.     One  teacher. 

SiDON.  Made  a  station  in  1831,  Population  10,000.  Missionaries:  J.  Ed- 
wards Ford ;  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Ford ;  J.  Lorenzo  Lyons  and  Mrs.  Catharine  N. 
Lyons;  "Wm.  W.  Eddy  and  Mrs.   Hannah  M.  Eddy,  now  in  this  country. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  VIEW.  21 

Three  native  preachers,  four  teachers,  and  one  other  helper.  Out-stations : 
Cana,  Alma,  Tyre,  Easbeiya,  Rashaiya,  IM,  Kheiyam,  Deir  Mimas.  Churches 
at  Sidon  and  Hasbeiya  with  about  fifty  members. 

HoMS.     1855.     Population  25,000.     One  native  helper. 

Deir  el  Komr.  1855.  Population,  (before  the  massacre,)  7000.  Mission- 
ary :  Wm.  Bird;  Mrs.  Sarah  F.  Bird,  now  m  this  country.  One  native 
preacher,  five  teachers,  and  one  helper.     Out-station :  Ain  Zehalty. 

SuK  EL  GhOrb.  1858.  Population,  400.  Missionary :  Daniel  Bliss  ;  Mrs. 
Abby  Maria  Bliss.  Teachers  of  Female  Seminary :  Miss  AmeUa  C.  Temple, 
Miss  Adelaide  L.  Mason.  Five  native  teachers  and  one  helper.  Female  Semi- 
nary.    Out-station :  Deir  Kobil. 


1819. 

Oct.  31.     Instructions  given  to  Rev.  Pliny  Fisk  and  Rev.  Levi  Parsons,  at  the 

Old  South  Church,  Boston. 
Nov.  3.      They  sailed  from  Boston.     Arrived  at  Malta,  Dec.  23. 

1820. 
Jan.  14.     They  arrived  at  Smyrna. 
Feb.    7.     First  monthly  concert  in  Turkey. 
May    1.     Went  to  Scio,  remaining  there  till  October. 
Nov.  Tour  among  the  Seven  Churches  of  Asia. 

Dec.    6.     Mr.  Parsons  sailed  for  Syria. 

1821. 

This  year,  Mr.  Fisk  remained  at  Smyrna  as  British  chaplain. 
Feb.  10.     Mr.  Parsons  arrived  at  Joppa.     17th,  reached  Jerusalem. 
May    8.     Left  for  Smyrna,  and  arrived  Dec.  3,  having  been  detained  by  war, 
and  by  sickness  at  Syra. 

1822, 
Jan,    9,     Messrs.  Fisk  and  Parsons  sailed  for  Alexandria,     Arrived  there  on 

the  14th. 
Feb.  10.     Rev.  Levi  Parsons  died  at  Alexandria. 
Mar.  10.     Mr.  Fisk  left  Cairo  for  Malta,  reaching  there  April  13. 
Oct.    1.     Rev.  Jonas  King  left  Paris  for  Malta,     Arrived  Nov.  3. 

1823. 
Jan.    3.     Messrs.  Fisk  and  Kins;  left  for  Alexandria.    Arrived  there  on  the  10th. 
Jan.  22,    Rev.  William  Goodell  and  Rev.   Isaac  Bird,  with  Mrs,  Abigail  P. 

Goodell  and  Mrs.  Ann  P.  Bird,  arrived  at  Malta. 
Apiil  7,     Messrs.  Fisk  and  King  left  Cairo,  and  arrived  at  Jerusalem  on  the  25th. 
Jan  27,     Left  for  Mount  Lebanon.     At  Beirut  July  10. 

Mr.  Fisk  spent  the  summer  at  Aintura,  and  then  returned  to  Jerusalem, 
Mr.  King  resided  at  Deir  el  Komr,  and  returned  to  Beirut  Nov.  18. 
Oct.  24.    Messrs.  Goodell  and  Bird  left  Malta.     Arrived  at  Beirut  Nov.  16. 

1824, 
Jan.  Mr.  Bird  joined  Mr.  Fisk  at  Jerusalem,  and 

Feb.  20.    Both  were  arrested  at  the  instigation  of  the  Papists. 
Feb.  The  same  influence  led  the  Sultan  to  forbid  the  circulation  of  the 

Bible  in  Turkey,  while  the  Maronites  and  Syrian  Patriarchs  ana- 
thematized all  Bible-readers. 


22  THE   SYRIA   MISSION. 

April.         Messrs.    King  and    Fisk  left  Jaffa  on  a  tour,  visiting   Damascus, 

Aleppo,  Antioch,  etc.,  and  returned  to  Beirut  by  the  middle  of 

November. 
June.         Mr.  Goodell  went  to  Sidon  to  study  Armeno-Turkish  vrith  Bishop 

Abgarius,  (Yakob  Aga,)  and  became  acquainted  with  Bishop  Dio- 

nysius,   (Carabet.) 
July.  Tannus  el  Haddad  employed  as  teacher.     His  school  in  December 

had  60  pupils. 

1825. 

Jan.   29.     Messrs.  Fisk  and  King  at  Jaffa.     March  29  to  May  8,  in  Jerusalem. 
Sept.  26.    Mr.  King  left  Syria,  after  spending  the  summer  at  Beirut  and  Deir 

el  Komr,  and  writing  his  fixmous  farewell  letter. 
Oct.  23.     Rev.  Pliny  Fisk  died  at  Beirut. 

1826. 

This  year  noted  for  violent  opposition  by  the  Papists,  who  sent  to 
Syria  20  priests  and  $13,000.  Yakob  Aga  was  removed  from  his 
office  of  Consular  Agent  by  the  Ambassador  at  Constantinople. 
Asaad  el  Shidiak  was  imprisoned,  scourged,  tortured,  and  at  length 
put  to  death  by  the  Maronite  Patriarch,  in  the  convent  at  Canobin. 
The  schools  in  Beirut  diminished  from  100  pupils  to  10. 

March.       Mr.  Goodell's  house  plundered  by  the  Arabs. 

May.  23.  Rev.  Eli  Smith  sailed  from  Boston.  At  Malta,  July  13.  Left  for 
Egypt  Dec.  2.  A  school  was  opened  this  summer  at  Hasbeiya, 
where  the  Greeks  and  Moslems  offered  to  provide  a  school-house. 

1827. 

Jan.    2.     Carabet,  Gregory  Wortabet,  and  Mrs.  Abbott,  (Mrs.  W.  M.  Thomson,) 

received  into  the  church  at  Beirut. 
Jan.  14.     Decree  of  excommunication  of  Bible-men  by  Maronite  Patriarch  read 

in  Beirut. 
Jan.  30.     Mr.  Smith  left  Alexandria,  and  arrived  at  Beirut,  Feb.  19. 
Feb.  Wives  of  Carabet  and  Wortabet  received  into  the  church. 

1828, 

May.  2.  The  missionaries,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  access  to  the  people,  and 
the  imminent  danger  of  war  between  Turkey  and  England,  left  for 
Malta,  with  Yakob  Aga  and  Carabet.     Arrived  there  on  the  29th. 

1829, 

Missionaries  labored  at  Malta  in  connection  with  the  press. 
Apr. -Aug.  Spent  by  Mr.  Bird  in  exploring  the  Barbary  States. 

1830. 

Jan.  21.     Rev.  Geo.  B.  Whiting  and  Mrs.  Matilda  S.  Whiting  sailed  from  Boston. 

At  Malta  Feb  27. 
Mar.    7.     Mr.  Smith  with  Mr.  Dwight  left  to  explore  Northern  Turkey,  and 

parts  of  Russia  and  Persia. 
May    1.     Messrs.  Bird  and  Whiting,  and  families,  sailed  for  Beirut. 

1831, 
June  9.     Mr.  Goodell  and  family  arrived  in  Constantinople. 
July    2.     Mr.  Smith  returned  to  Malta  from  his  exploring  tour. 

1832, 
May.  Capture  of  Acre  by  Ibrahim  Pasha,  aided  by  the  Emir  Bcshir. 

June.        Mr.  Tod's  visit  to  Canobin,  to  ascertain  the  fate  of  Asaad  el  Shidiak. 
Sept.  10,    Gregory  Wortabet  died  at  Sidon. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  VIEW.  28 

1833. 

Feb.  24.  Rev.  William  M.  Thomson,  and  Mrs.  Eliza  N.  Thomson,  Asa  Dodge, 
M.D.,  and  Mrs.  Martha  W.  Dodge,  arrived  at  Beirut. 

April.  Mr.  Bird's  letters  in  reply  to  Bishop  Butriks  printed  this  summer 
in  Malta. 

1834. 

Jan.  28.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Smith  arrived  at  Beirut,  having  left  Boston 

Sept.  21st. 
April.         Mr.  Thomson  removed  to  Jerusalem  with  his  family.     School  for 

girls   commenced  in   Beirut,  under  care  of  Mrs.   Smith,  and  at 

Aaleih,  under  ili's.  Dodge. 
May.  Civil  war  broke  out  while  Mr.  Thomson  was  at  Jaffa,  separating  him 

from  his  family  for  two  months.     Meanwhile,  Mrs.  T.  was  sick,  and 
July  22.     12  days  after  his  return,  died  at  Jerusalem.    Mr.  Thomson  returned  to 

Beirut.     This  summer  Messrs.  Smith  and  Dodge  explored  as  far  as 

Damascus  and  the  river  Jabbok,  and  Commodore  Patterson  visited 

Beirut  in  the  Delaware,  as  an  act  of  friendliness  to  the  mission. 
Nov.    1.     Messrs.  Dodge  and  Whiting  stationed  at  Jerusalem. 
Dec.  11.     Kev.  Lorenzo  Pease  and  Mrs.  Lucinda  Pease  arrived  at  Larnica,  in 

Cyprus,  having  left  Boston  Aug.  20. 

1835. 

Jan.  28.     Asa  Dodge,  M.D.,  died  at  Jerusalem. 

Aug.  Mr.  Bird  left  for  Smyrna,  on  account  of  health  of  Mrs.  B. 

Aug.   3.     Mr.  W.  M.  Thomson  married  to  Mrs.  Maria  Abbott. 

Nov.  13.    Miss  Rebecca  W.  Williams  arrived  in  Beirut. 

Dec.  Seminary  for  boys  commenced  with  6  pupils.  This  year,  many  Druzes 

desired  to  be  baptized,  in  order  to  avoid  conscription  for  the  Egyp- 
tian army ;  but  early  in  1836,  all  fell  oflf  except  Kassim,  who 
remained  faithful  even  in  expectation  of  death  as  an  apostate  from 
the  Koran. 

1836. 

March.       Kassim  released  from  prison. 

Mar.  14.     Rev.  John  F.  Lanneau,  Rev.  Story  Hebard,  Rev.  James  L.  Thomson, 

and  Miss  Betsey  Tilden,  arrived  at  Beirut. 
May.  Mr.  Lanneau  sent  to  Jerusalem,  and  Mr.  J.  L.  Thomson  to  Larnica. 

June  11.     Mr.    and  Mrs.    Smith   sailed  for  Smyrna.     Wrecked  on  the  14th. 

Arrived  at  Smyrna  July  13. 
July  31.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bird  left  Smyrna.     Arrived  at  Boston  Oct.  15. 
Sept. 30.     Mrs.  Sarah  Lanman  Smith  died  at  Boojah,  near  Smyrna. 
Oct.     6.     Mr.  S.  Hebard  married  to  Miss  R.  W.  WilHams. 
Oct.  28.     Rev.  Daniel  Ladd  and  Mrs.  Charlotte  H.  Ladd  arrived  at  Larnica, 

having  sailed  from  Boston  July  16. 

1837. 

May  8.  In  Cyprus  the  high-school  of  17  pupils,  and  two  Lancasterian  schools 
having  200  pupils,  were  closed,  but  reopened  at  the  expense  of  the 
people.     235  churches  in  the  island  were  suppUed  with  Bibles. 

1838. 

Jan. -Jul.  Mr.  Smith  traveling  with  E.  Robinson,  D.D.,  in  Egypt,  Arabia,  and 

Palestine. 
Jan.     1.     Kassim  and  wife  received  into  the  Church. 
July  19.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whiting  arrived  at  Boston,  on  a  visit  to  the  U.  S. 
Nov.  11.     Two  Druzes,  two  Greeks,  one  Latin,  and  one  Greek  Papist  received 

into  the  church.     15  boarding-scholars  in  the  Seminary  this  year. 


24  THE  STBiA  inssioy. 

1839. 

Chapel  opened  in  Beiriit  for  Arabic  preaching. 
Oct.  15.     E«T.  Elia^^  R.  Beadle  and  Mrs,  Hannah  J.  Beadle  arrrred  at  Beir&t 
Oct.  24.     Eer.   Otzrhss  S.  ShCTman  and  Mrs.  3Iartha  E.  Sherman  arrived  at 
Jerusalem. 

1S40. 

Feb.    8.     ifrs.  K.  "W.  Tlel^rd  died  at  B«r6t  ilr.  Hebard  ■?oon  left  f/r  Smj-ma. 
April  2.     Mr.  and  yin.   Whiting  retamed,   with  E^v.   Messrs.  XatJianiel   A. 

Keve"    '"■ '  Wokott,  and  Leander  Tbomson,  and  Mrs.  Mary 

Key-  larine  E.  Wolcott,  and  Mrs.  Anne  E.  Thomson; 

also  f .".  A-  Van  Dyck,  JLD. 

Ibj  7-Jtme  5.     Messrs.  Tliomson,  Beadle,  and  Tan  Djck  explore  Xorthero 

Syria. 
Janell.    Mr.  Lanneau  l':A  for  Paris  and  the  United  States. 
July   1.     Messr-s.  Ji^^le,  Keyes,  L.  Thornton,  and  families,  with  Miss  Tilden 

go  to  Jenisalera-     Ihr,  Van  Dyck  noon  follows  them. 
An^r,  14.    En',^!;"h  fl'<-t  ^irrlved  under  Sir  Charles  Napier. 
Sept.  S.     M:  '.ent  on  board  the  Cyane.    Beached  Cyprus,  18th. 

Sept.lO.     B'..  ..r>f  Beirut  be^m. 

Oct  10.     Mr.  V>  oly/.t  returned  from  Cyprus.     British  then  landing.     Mission 

prop<:Tty  all  safe. 
KoT.  Tliis  year,  Cyprus  was  '        '  t^   I  to  the  Mission  in  Turkey.    Bfitrus 

el  Bi.-;tariy  from  ilaro  ;  of  Ainwarka,  employed  as  teacher 

in  the  Strminary,  now  jiu.;.  y;ii£jg  44  pupils. 

184L 

Apr.  15.  Mr.  George  C.  Hurt^-,  Printer,  and  Mrs.  Eh'zabeth  Horter,  arrired 
bringin;r  the  new  Arabic  type. 

April  24.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beadle  went  to  Aleppo  with  Messrs.  Hinsdale  and 
Mitchell 

April  27.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Maria  ^V.  Smith  sailed  from  Boston.  Arrived  at  Beir&t 
June  24. 

June  15.    Prir]ting-<>ffj^y;  commence'l  ofterations. 

June  30.    Kev,  Story  Hebard  die^l  at  Malta,  having  left  Beirut  April  25, 

Oct.  26.    Mrs.  Catliarine  E.  Wolcott  died  at  BeirOt. 

UoT.  ^Var  l>etween  Druze-i  and  Maronites.     Maronite  patriarch  driven  from. 

Canobin.  Many  refugees  fe^l  and  lo^lged  by  the  mission.  Seminary 
81  pupils,  17  of  them  boarders.  9  .schooh  with  262  pupils.  Girls' 
Kch'X*!  of  25,  and  Druze  High-school  in  Deir  el  Komr  commenced 
in  Junf;,  broken  up  ju.a.t  l.»efore  the  war.  Printed  636,000  pp. 
9000  Ix^oks  and  tracts  distributed. 

1842. 

Mar.  28.  Henry  A.  T)e  Forest,  MD.,  and  3frs.  Catharine  S.  De  Forest,  arrived 
at  Beirlit. 

July    ].    Mr.  and  .Mrs.  Sherman  returned  to  TJ.  S.  A- 

July  27.    Mrs.  Maria  W.  Smith  died  in  B'.irfit. 

Aug.  The  Seminary  was  Huspenfled,  having  then  24  pupils. 

feept  27.  Mr.  and  .Mrs.  J{f;vlle  returne'l  to  U.  S.  A.  In  12  schools  279  pupils, 
of  whom  52  were  girls.  1 2  female  V>arding-scholar.H  in  mission  fami- 
lies. 11  members  in  the  church.  Printing  10,000  copies,  1,708,000 
pages.  Whole  number  of  pages,  from  beginning,  71,850,000. 
B'y^ks  and  tracts  circulated,  21,181. 

1843. 
Jan.    2.     Mr.  Wolcott  and  W.  H.  Thomson  returned  to  TJ.  S.  A. 
Jan.  18.      Mr.  and  .Vfrs.  Julia  H.  Lann^^au  arrived  at  Smyrna. 
Feb,  20,     Failure  of  att^^rnpt  to  abduct  Rahil   by  forcji.     Establi.shed  right  of 
members  of  native  churches  to  bec^nne  Protestants. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  VIEW. 


25 


Mar.  1.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  Thomson,  and  Miss  Tilden,  returned  to  U.  S.  A. 
This  year  Jerusalem  was  given  up,  in  order  to  occupy  Abeih. 

June  20.  Messrs.  Thomson  and  Van  Dyck  removed  there.  Eegular  preach- 
ing every  Sabbath  in  house  of  Mr.  Thomson.  In  13  schools,  438 
scholars.  Eleven  young  ladies  in  mission  families.  Printed 
13,000  copies,  and  1,282,000  pp.     9241  volumes  distributed. 

Feb  26.  Fifty  men  from  Hasbeiya  applied  for  instruction,  soon  increased  to 
152.     Elias  Fuaz  and  Butrfis  Bistany  sent  there. 

March.       Dr.  Anderson,  in  company  with  Dr.  Hawes,  spend  a  month  in  Syria. 

May    9.     Messrs.  Smith  and  Whiting  visit  Hasbeiya. 

May  10.  Protestants  there  refuse  to  join  in  a  political  demonstration  on  first 
Sabbath. 

July  3.  Full  exposition  of  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  Church,  and  reasons 
why  ordinances  are  not  to  be  administered  indiscriminately,  given 
by  Mr.  Smith. 

July  4.  Assent  of  the  people  given  to  these  views  so  trying  to  them.  82 
men  and  104  women  and  children  willing  to  be  publicly  recognized 
as  Protestants. 

July  15.  Spontaneous  covenant  to  stand  by  each  other  till  death,  signed  by  76 
men  in  view  of  an  expected  attack  from  Zahleh. 

July  16.     Mr.  Thomson  came  to  Hasbeiya;  also  30  horsemen  from  Zahleh. 

July  28.    Rev.  Simeon  H.  Calhoun  arrived  at  Beirut  from  Smyrna. 

July  29.  Armed  men  sent  written  order  to  the  leader  of  the  Protestants  to 
leave  the  place,  on  penalty  of  death  if  he  refused.  The  Protestants 
immediately  fled  to  Abeih,  and  remained  there  till  October,  under 
religious  instruction. 

Aug.  16.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keyes  arrived  in  U.  S.  A.     Left  BeirAt  April  5. 

Oct.  14.     Hasbeiyans  returned  to  their  homes,  and  the  Greek  Patriarch  arrived 
the  same  day  from  Damascus  to  effect  their  return  to  the  Greek 
Church. 
This  autumn,  Mr.  Whiting  removed  to  Abeih. 

Dec.  11.     Rev.  Thomas  Laurie  arrived  in  Beirut  from  Mosul. 

Dec.  15.  Ehas  Fuaz  stoned  and  severely  wounded  in  Hasbeiya.  Houses  of 
the  Protestants  attacked  ;  every  one  who  was  seen  in  the  streets 
was  stoned. 

Dec.  19.  Second  flight  to  Abeih.  Seven  schools,  with  290  scholars,  more  re- 
mote ones  having  been  abandoned.  Printed  2000  copies,  132,000 
pages;  in  all,  73,264,000  pages.  Press  stopped  in  April,  that 
more  preaching  might  be  done. 

1845. 

March  5.   Mr.  Smith  left  for  America. 

April  30.    Civil  war  broke  out  again  in  Lebanon. 

May    9.    Battle  at  Abeih ;  truce  brought  about  by  Mr.  Thomson. 

May  10.  Maronite  and  Greek  Bishops  of  Beirut  ordered  their  people  to  pro- 
tect the  American  missionaries. 

May  18.    Lebanon  covered  with  the  smoke  of  burning  villages. 

May  20.    Cessation  of  hostilities  through  Consular  intervention. 

Sept.  23.    Missionaries  ordered  down  from  Abeih  by  Chekib  Effendi. 

S'pt  29.    Missionaries  came  down  accordingly. 

Oct.   28.    Yakob  Aga  died  at  Beirut. 

Dec.  Missionaries  returned  to  Abeih.     In  12   schools,  606  pupils  ;  182  of 

them  girls.  Printed  3500  copies  ;  314,500  pages ;  73,578,500  pages 
in  alL     This  year  a  chapel  finished  and  occupied  in  Abeih. 

1846. 

Jan.  14.     Dr.  Van  Dyck  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry. 
Feb.  17.     Mr.  Lanneau  left  for  U.  S.  A. 


26 


THE  SYRIA  MISSION. 


April  2.     Native  helpers  sent  to  Hasbeiya. 

May    9.     Mr,  Laurie  returned  to  U.  S.  A. 

Aug.  Girls'  school  opened  in  Abeih   in  the  family  of  Mr.  Whiting. 

Nov.  4.  New  Seminary  opened  at  Abeih  under  Dr.  Van  Dyck,  on  a  more  strictly 
missionary  basis,  with  eight  pupils,  boarders.  In  18  schools,  528 
pupils,  of  whom  138  were  girls.     Pi'iuted  5400  copies,  283,500  pp. 

1847. 

Jan.  12.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  (Henrietta  S.)  Smith  arrived.     Left  Boston  Nov.  5. 

Feb.  14.     Mr.  Calhoun  left  for  U.  S.  A. 

March  1.  Fetvva  from  the  Mufti  of  Beirut,  deciding  that  Druzes  are  infidels,  and 
therefore  not  liable  to  death  for  apostasy  from  Islamism. 

March  7.    John  Wortabet  received  into  the  church. 

Aug.    1.    Seven  others  received,  of  whom  3  were  Hasbeiyans. 

Same  month,  2  young  ladies  in  the  family  of  Dr.  De  Forest. 

Oct.  20.  Rev.  William  A.  Benton  and  Mrs.  Loanza  G.  Benton  landed  at  Beirut. 
This  spring  the  Protestants  of  Hasbeiya  sent  a  deputation  to  Con- 
stantinople, who  secured  a  promise  of  protection  from  government 
without  any  help  from  ambassadoi's,  though  a  copy  was  sent  after- 
ward to  the  British  Ambassador,  at  his  request.  In  13  schools,  626 
pupils,  of  whom  163  were  girls.  Printed  2700  copies;  793,800 
pages;  in  all,  from  the  first,  74,755,800  pages. 

1848. 

January.    The  Emir  of  Hasbeiya  promised  protection  to  Protestants. 
Feb.      9.    Petition  for  organization  of  a  native  church  sent  to  the  mission. 
March  8.    Eev.  David  M.  Wilson  and  Mrs.  Emeline  Wilson,  Rev.  Jon.  E.  Ford 

and  Mrs.  Mary  Ford,  arrived,  having  left  Boston  Dec.  29th. 
Mar.  31.    Church  organized  of  19  members,  4  of  them  women. 
April   2.    Tannus  el  Haddad  and  Elias  Fuaz  ordained  deacons. 
April  19.   Messrs.  Benton  and  Ford,  with  John  Wortabet,  arrived  at  Aleppo  to 

form  a  station  there,  having  left  Beirut  April  10th. 
Aug.  24.  Rev.  Horace  Foote  and  Mrs.  Roxana  Foote  arrived. 
Oct.     4.   Annual  examination  of  Seminary  ;  new  class  of  7  added. 
Nov.  16.    Messrs.  Wilson  and  Foote  remove  to  the  port  of  Tripoli. 
Dec.  Dr.  Michael  Meshakah,  of  Damascus,  avows  himself  a  Protestant 

This  year  arrangements  were  completed  for  translating  the  Bible. 

The  church  at  Beirut  contained  26  members.     In  10  schools  were 

285   pupils,  of  which  55  were  girls.     Dr.  De  Forest  had  7  young 

ladies  in  his  f;imily.     Printed  5500  copies ;  1,010,000  pp. ;  in  all, 

75,765,800  pages. 

1849. 

January.  Greek  Patriarch  driven  from  Beiriit  for  trying  to  ordain  an  unpopular 
bishop. 

March  6.  Rev.  Wm.  F.  Williams  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Williams,  Mr.  Calhoun  and 
Mrs.  Emily  P.  Calhoun,  arrived  in  Beirut.  Favorable  openings  at 
Sidon,  at  Beskinta,  and  back  of  Tripoli. 

May  17.  Messrs.  Thomson  and  De  Forest  arrived  at  Hasbeiya  with  their  wives. 
The  first  visit  of  missionary  ladies  to  that  place. 

July  27.  Mr.  Wilson  driven  by  force  from  his  hired  house  in  Ehden.  Six 
months  after,  $70  damages  awarded,  and  guarantee  of  protec- 
tion wherever  he  could  hire  a  house  in  any  part  of  the  mountain. 

Oct.  11-Nov.  22.  Journey  of  Mr.  Ford  to  Mosul  from  Aleppo.  Three  pupils 
were  expelled  from  the  Seminary  this  summer  for  misconduct.  Mr. 
Smith  commenced  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Arabic,  with 
Butrus  Bistany  for  assistant.  Dr.  De  Forest  this  year  had  13  pu- 
pils in  his  family  ;  Mr.  Whiting,  5  ;  the  church  in  Beirut,  27  mem- 
bers, 1 0  of  them  from  the  Greek  church,  4  Papal  Greeks,  4  Maroa* 


CHRONOLOGICAL  VIEW.  27 

ites,  5  Armenians,  3  Druzes,  and  one  Jacobite.  In  10  schools  wcro 
271  pupils.  Printed  8000  copies;  1,934,000  pp.;  in  all,  77,699,- 
800.  This  year,  two  of  the  native  brethren  were  sent  out  on  mis- 
sionary tours  to  Sidon  and  Hasbeiya,  at  the  expense  of  the  natire 
church.  Mr.  Calhoun  became  connected  with  the  Seminary. 
1850. 

April  10.   Mr.  Ford  left  Mosul  for  Aleppo. 

June  15.   Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomson  sailed  from  Boston.  Arrived  in  Beirut,  Aug.  5. 

June  29-July  25.  Messrs.  Whiting  and  Williams  at  Hasbeiya. 

Sept  5—19.    Messrs.  Thomson  and  Van  Dyck  at  Hasbeiya. 

Oct.  16-17.  Insurrection  in  Aleppo.     Crushed  Nov.  5th  and  6th. 

Nov.  $20  given  by  19  pupils  of  Seminary  for  missions,  and  $31  by  17  pu- 

pils of  Female  Seminary.  400  piastres  sent  by  the  Church  to  the 
Nestorian  field,  and  1000  given  for  printing  Arabic  tract.  In  the 
autumn,  Mr.  Whiting  was  transferred  to  Beirut. 

Dec  Mr.  Thomson  in  Hasbeiya.     Printed  3200  copies ;    966,240  pp. ;  in 

all  78,666,040  pages. 

1851. 

March  2.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benton  arrived  from  Aleppo. 

Mar.  31.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williams  and  Salome  left  for  Mosul. 

April.         John  Wortabet  stationed  at  Hasbeiya. 

May     2.    Miss  Anna  L.  Whittlesey  arrived,  as  teacher  for  Female  Seminary. 

June  16.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benton  left  for  U.  S.  A. 

July  10.    Commenced  casting  the  third  font  of  Arabic  type. 

July  15.    Church  organized  at  Hasbeiya  of  16  members,  5  of  them  females, 

Oct.  9.  Mr.  Thomson  at  Hasbeiya.  Near  close  of  the  year  preaching  com- 
menced at  Kefr  Shima.  In  11  schools,  245  scholars.  Printed  3320 
copies;  1,285,680  pages. 

1852. 

Rev.  William  W.  Eddy  and  Mrs.  H.  M.  Eddy  arrived  at  Beh-ilt. 
Church  in  Beirut  had  26  members,  and  at  Hasbeiya,  25. 
Mr.  Smith  left  to  visit  Palestine  with  Dr.  Robinson. 
Mr.  Eddy  removed  to  Aleppo. 
Miss  Anna  L.  Whittlesey  died  in  Beirut. 
Mr.  Smith  returned  from  Palestine. 
Church  organized  at  Aleppo  of  six  members. 

Church  organized  at  Abeih  of  eight  members.  In  15  schools,  458  pu- 
pils, 49  of  them  girls.     Printed  9600  copies  ;  1,671,900  pages. 

1853. 

26.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benton  returned  to  Beirut. 

J  Wortabet  ordained  as  an  Evangelist. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Van  Dyck  left  for  the  U.  S.  A. 

Rev.  Wm.  Bird,  Mrs.  Sarah  F.  Bird,  and  Miss  Sarah  Cheney,  arrived 
at  Smyrna. 

Steam  press  received  from  Smyrna, 

5000  piastres  given  this  year  by  English  congregation  for  fitting 
up  the  chapel  in  Beirut.  Church  at  Beirut  gave  lOOO  piastres,  and 
at  Hasbeiya  700  do.,  to  send  Bibles  to  China.  In  21  schools,  568 
pupils.     Printed  7000  copies;  1,083,000  pages. 

1854. 

May    8.     Dr.  and  Mrs.  De  Forest  returned  to  U.  S.  A.,  and  Female  Seminary 

closed. 
June  12.    Commenced  printing  new  translation  of  Genesis. 
July  24.    Dr.  and  Mrs.  Van  Dyck  sailed  from  Boston.     Arrived  Sept.  24. 
Sept.  Messrs.  Wilson  and  Eddy  visited  Homs. 

Dec.  24.    Mrs.  Roxana  Foote  died  at  sea  near  New- York.     A  church-building 

erected  this  year  at  Hasbeiya.     In  26  schools,  772  scholars* 


Jan. 

31. 

March. 

April 

5. 

April  14. 

May 

1. 

May 

22. 

June 

13. 

Sept. 

15. 

Feb. 

26. 

Mar. 

27. 

April 

7. 

April 

20. 

April 

25. 

Dec. 

31 

28 


THE  SYRIA  MISSION. 


Feb.  25. 
April. 
Oct.  25. 
Nov.  8. 
Nov.  11. 
Dec.  24. 
Dec. 


Jan. 
Feb. 
Feb. 

19. 
1. 
7. 

Feb. 
Mar. 
Apr. 

14. 

23. 

June 

June  20. 
Aug.    1. 
October. 

1855. 

Rev.  Jerre  L.  Lyons  and  Mrs.  Catharine  N.  Lyons  arrived  in  Beirftt. 

Bhamdun  made  a  station,  and  Mr.  Benton  stationed  there. 

Mr.  Wilson  left  Tripoli  for  Horns. 

Rev.  George  B.  Whiting  died  at  BeirAt. 

Messrs.  Ford  and  Eddy  removed  from  Aleppo  to  Beirut. 

Rev.  Edward  Aiken  and  Mrs.  Susan  D.  Aiken  landed  at  Beirut. 

Persecution  at  Alma,  near  Sidon.  The  church  at  Hasbeiya  this  year 
numbered  29  ;  5  were  received  at  Abeih  and  3  at  Beirut.  This  year 
Northern  Syria  given  up  to  the  Armenian  Missions,  and  a  station 
established  at  Deir  el  Komr,  under  Mr.  Bird.  In  25  schools,  886 
scholars.     Printed  13,500  copies ;  1,678,300  pages. 

1856. 

Commenced  printing  the  New  Testament. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eddy  removed  to  Kefr  Shima. 

Rev.  Henry  H.  Jessup,  Rev.  Daniel  Bliss  and  Mrs.  Abby  M.  Bliss,  ar- 
rived. 

Revival  in  Seminary  at  Abeih. 

Mrs.  Whiting  left  for  U.  S.  A. 

Mr.  Jessup  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lyons  left  for  Tripoli,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Aiken  for  Homs. 

Church  of  seven  members  formed  at  Sidon ;  four  added  during  the 
year. 

Mrs.  Susan  D.  Aiken  died  at  Homs. 

Messrs.  Wilson  and  Aiken  left  Homs. 

Female  Seminary  reopened  by  Miss  Cheney,  vrith  eight  pupils.  Thir- 
ty-four schools,  containing  1068  pupils,  266  of  them  girls.  Printed 
14,400  copies  ;  1,449,200  pages. 

1857. 

Eli  Smith,  D.D.,  died  in  Beirut.  Dr.  Van  Dyck  appointed  to  carry 
on  the  translation  of  the  Bible. 

Seven  received  into  the  church  at  Alma. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomson  left  for  U.  S.  A. 

Mr.  Wilson  spent  summer  at  Homs. 

Mr.  Aiken  and  Miss  Cheney  united  in  marriage. 

Successful  stand  for  religious  freedom  in  Aramon  by  Mr.  Calhoun. 

Mr.  Eddy  sent  to  Sidon,  and  Mr.  Aiken  to  Kefr  Shima. 

Dr.  Van  Dyck  removed  to  Beirut.  Five  received  into  the  church  this 
year  at  Beirut,  and  six  at  Abeih.  The  mission  had  9  stations,  16 
regular  places  for  preaching,  4  churches  with  75  members,  and  30 
schools  with  1020  pupils,  277  of  them  girls ;  printing  2,569,000  pp. 

1858. 
January.    At  Alma,  out  of  500  inhabitants,  40  Protestants  and  9  church  mem- 
bers. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  (Caroline)  Jessup  arrived  at  Tripoli. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aiken  left  for  U.  S.  A. 

Moslem  inquirer  from  Bagdad  rescued  from  Jesuits  and  sent  to  Malta. 
Persecution  at  Alma  and  Cana. 

Misses  Amelia  C.  Temple  and  Jane  E.  Johnson  arrived  at  BeirAt. 

Chapel  opened  in  Tripoli,  and,  Nov.  7,  church  dedicated  at  Alma.  In 
32  schools,  1065  pupils,  268  of  them  girls.     Printed  2,258,000  pp. 

1859. 

Mar.  15.    Miss  Johnson  left  for  U.  S.  A. 

May  13.    Mr.  Benton  driven  from  Zahleh  by  the  natives. 

June  23.    Dr.  Thomson  arrived  at  Beirut  from  U.  S.  A. 


Jan.  11. 

Apr.  20. 
June    4. 

July  22. 
August. 
Sept. 
Nov. 


Apr.  26. 
May  1. 
May. 

Aug.  81. 
Oct.    24. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  VIEW.  29 

July  5.  Printed  first  sheet  of  pocket  edition  of  New  Testament.  Between  Jan- 
uary and  July,  19  added  to  the  churches.  In  33  schools,  967  pu« 
pils,  176  of  them  girls.     Printed  3,038,000  pages. 

1860. 

Feb.  11.    Miss  Adelaide  L.  Mason  arrived  at  Beirut. 

Mar.  29.  Finished  printing  the  New  Testament,  with  references,  and  in  April, 
a  pocket  edition. 

May  30.    250  refugees  from  the  massacre  in  the  girls'  school-house  at  Beirut. 

May  31.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jessup,  Miss  Temple,  and  nine  members  of  the  Female 
Seminary,  came  down  from  Suk  el  Ghurb. 

June   2.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bliss,  Miss  Mason,  and  the  rest,  came  down  safely. 

June   7.    Female  Seminary  dismissed  after  one  week's  trial  in  Beirut. 

June  26.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eddy  left  for  U.  S.  A. 

June  27.    Seminary  dismissed  on  account  of  the  war. 

July    5.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bird  left  for  U.  S.  A. 

Aug.  16.    First  installment  of  French  troops  landed. 

Aug.  25.    300  prisoners  arrived  from  Damascus. 

Sept.  21.    Nine  Druze  Sheikhs  arrested. 

Sept.  25.    French  troops  sent  to  the  mountain. 

Dec.    7.    Commenced  printing  vovveled  edition  of  New  Testament.     At  close  of 
the  year,  the  Old  Testament,  as  far  as  Numbers,  was  ready  for  the 
press.     In  27  schools,  824  pupils,  192  of  them   girls.      Printed 
4,401,160  pp. ;  in  all,  227,640  copies,  and  112,825,780  pages. 
1861. 

May    4.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson  left  for  U.  S.  A. 

May  29.     First  portion  of  French  troops  embarked  for  France. 

June   7.     Mrs.  Hurter  and  family  left  for  U.  S.  A. 

Oct.  19.     Mr.  Hurter  left  for  U.  S.  A,     Ai-rived  in  Boston  Nov.  28th. 


The  Station  Reports  for  1861  have  come  to  hand  at  the  last  moment,  as  these 
pages  are  in  press.  They  testify  to  sad  desolations  from  the  civil  war  and  dis- 
turbed political  condition  of  the  country,  and  to  the  weakened  strength  of  the 
mission ;  but  they  also  speak  of  enlarged  congregations  at  the  principal  sta- 
tions, and  many  tokens  of  increasing  spiritual  prosperity.  Enemies  are  put- 
ting forth  unwonted  efforts  in  opposition ;  but  the  conflict  is  turning  to  the 
advantage  of  truth.  Considerable  additions  have  recently  been  or  are  soon  to 
be  made  to  the  membership  of  the  Abeih,  Sidon,  and  Cana  churches.  Native 
missionary  societies  have  been  formed.  The  latest  intelligence  is,  that  250 
persons  have  just  declared  themselves  Protestants  at  Homs,  and  more  than 
100  in  Cana.  Many  pressing  petitions  for  religious  instruction  are  coming  in 
from  different  places.  "The  harvest,"  writes  Mr.  Jessup,  "  is  whitening,  but, 
alas!  the  laborers  are  few." 


APPENDIX. 


DR.   MESHAKAH   OF   DAMASCUS. 

The  Bibliotheca  Sacra^  for  October,  1858,  contains  a  translation  of  one  of  Dr. 
Meshakah's  treatises  entitled.  An  Argument  on  the  Weakness  of  Man ;  being  an 
able  discussion  of  skepticism.  A  sketch  of  the  author  is  prefixed,  from  which 
we  take  the  following  paragraphs  : 

Mikhael  Meshakah  was  born  in  Damascus  in  the  year  1800,  and  by  birth 
and  baptism  was  a  member  of  the  Greek  Catholic  Church,  which  is  the  name 
of  that  portion  of  the  ancient  Eastern  church  that  has  given  in  its  adhesion  to 
the  Pope  of  Eome.  He  was  descended  from  a  noble  fiimily,  and  his  father  held 
an  honorable  oflBce  under  the  government  of  Mount  Lebanon.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen,  under  the  tuition  of  a  relative  who  had  been  taught  by  the  French,  in 
Egypt,  under  Bonaparte,  he  made  considerable  proficiency  in  algebra,  geometry, 
astronomy,  and  the  natural  sciences. 

This  education,  while  it  elevated  his  views  of  the  Creator,  led  him  to  despise 
the  unscriptural  practices  and  traditionary  errors  of  his  sect ;  and  as  he  knew 

;  nothing  of  a  spiritual  Christianity,  he  learned  to  look  upon  all  religion  as  a  con- 
trivance of  the  more  intelligent  to  secure  the  control  of  the  ignorant  masses. 

[  The  result  of  an  examination  of  the  books  of  the  various  sects  around  him,  was 
the  conviction  that  all  were  alike  corrupt,  and  that  nothing  more  was  required 
of  him  than  that,  rising  above  the  empty  show  got  up  to  impress  the  vulgar,  he 
should  be  upright  and  benevolent  according  to  the  light  of  nature.  Still,  to  avoid 
offense,  he  attended  church  and  conformed  externally  to  ecclesiastical  require- 
ments. 

In  1821,  Jonas  King,  D.D  ,  was  the  guest  of  his  father,  in  Deir  el  Komr,  the 
capital  of  Mount  Lebanon;  but  though  the  missionary  conversed  much  with 
others,  he  seems  to  have  overlooked  Meshakah,  who  did  not  dare  to  bring  for- 
ward his  own  diflSculties  lest  he  should  be  shunned  as  an  infidel  by  the  bigots 
of  the  town.  While  the  arguments  addressed  to  them  wholly  failed  to  meet  his 
case,  still  the  intelligence  and  kind  forbearance  of  the  missionary  with  their  ig- 
norance and  rudeness,  as  compared  with  the  spirit  of  the  native  priests,  did  not 
fail  to  be  observed  and  to  leave  a  good  impression. 

It  was  some  time  after  this,  and  when  he  had  again  returned  to  Damascus, 
where  he  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine  with  great  success, 
that  among  other  issues  of  the  mission  presses  at  Malta,  a  translation  of  Keith 
on  the  Prophecies  fell  into  his  hands.  At  first  he  was  disposed  to  laugh  at  the 
idea  of  any  one  soberly  undertaking  to  defend  a  system  so  full  of  ftilsehood  and 
folly  as  that  which  he  had  hitherto  known  as  the  Christian  religion.  The  pre- 
face, however,  disposed  him  to  read  the  book  with  candor  ;  and,  with  his  Biblo 
lying  open  before  him,  constantly  turning  to  every  passage  referred  to,  he  stu- 
died the  book  through  three  times  in  the  course  of  a  single  month.  Nor  did  he 
leave  it  till  he  was  fully  satisfied  that  the  Bible  was  an  inspired  revelation  from 
God.     He  now  saw  the  danger  of  the  path  in  which  he  had  been  straying, 


APPENDIX.  31 

and  thanked  God  that  instead  of  cutting  him  off  in  his  unbelief,  He  had,  by 
means  of  this  book,  rescued  him  forever  from  its  power.  He  longed  also  to  see 
the  author  that  he  might  tell  him  in  person  how  much  he  owed  him.  This  last 
wish  was  gratified,  when,  in  a  subsequent  visit  to  Syria,  Dr.  Keith  became  his 
guest  in  Damascus. 

But  though  satisfied  that  tho  Christian  religion  was  from  God,  he  was  still 
at  a  loss  to  know  precisely  what  that  religion  is.  Like  many  others,  he  was 
much  perplexed  by  tho  multiplicity  of  sects,  though  the  diflficulty  presented 
itself  to  him  in  a  different  light  from  that  in  which  it  usually  appears  with  us. 
He  saw  one  part  of  the  Papal  church  selecting  a  saint  to  be  its  special  interces- 
sor with  God,  who  was  counted  a  son  of  perdition  by  another  portion  of  the 
same  church.  Difi'erent  sects,  too,  claimed  the  authority  of  the  same  fathers  of 
the  church  for  opinions  and  practices  very  far  apart,  if  not  directly  opposed  to 
one  another. 

In  this  state  of  mind,  desiring  light  from  all  quarters,  he  providentially  be-  \ 
came  acquainted  with  some  of  our  missionaries  ;  and  having  collected  the  pub-  ! 
lications  of  our  mission  press,  that  had  been  removed  from  Malta  to  Beirut,  he  Q. 
carefully  compared  them  with  Papal  works  written  on  the  other  side.  The 
result  was,  that  he  found  every  thing  which  had  formerly  led  him  to  despise 
and  renounce  Christianity,  was  not  Christianity  itself,  but  the  unauthorized  ad- 
ditions that  had  been  made  to  it  by  men  ;  while  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  apart 
from  these  human  additions,  was  every  way  worthy  of  its  Author.  Still  desirous 
to  know  the  truth,  and  fearful  of  being  led  astray,  he  made  known  some  of  his 
diflficulties  to  the  most  learned  dignitaries  of  his  own  church,  and  their  replies 
were  so  manifestly  contradictory  to  Scripture,  that  after  much  internal  conflict, 
he  felt  constrained  to  leave  them ;  and  notwithstanding  the  odium  of  such  a 
step  in  tradition-loving  Damascus,  took  firm  and  decided  ground  in  favor  of  the 
religion  of  the  Bible.  Accordingly,  Dec.  14,  1848,  we  find  him  writing  to  his  ^ 
dear  friend,  the  late  Eli  Smith,  D.D.,  "that  his  mental  distress  continually  in- 
creased, and  he  sudied  the  Bible  day  and  night,  yet  could  find  no  peace  except 
in  resolving  openly  to  profess  his  attachment  to  the  truth,  which  he  soon  did 
without  the  least  reserve."  His  letters,  at  this  time,  to  Dr.  Smith,  breathe  tlie 
spirit  of  a  little  child,  humble  and  self-distrustful,  yet  firm  and  decided  in  his 
adherence  to  what  he  felt  was  the  cause  of  God  and  truth.  Of  course  his  ene- 
mies were  not  idle.  Such  a  man  could  not  be  allowed  to  stand  up  foFevangcl- 
ical  religion,  if  any  effort  could  put  him  down ;  and  no  means  were  left  untried. 
He  was  constantly  harassed  by  the  visits  of  ecclesiastics,  singly  and  often  by 
whole  companies  at  once,  of  the  members  of  his  former  church,  to  argue  or  to 
beseech  him  to  return  to  the  fold.  At  one  time  he  asked  them  why  they  did 
not  devote  some  of  the  labor  they  bestowed  upon  him  to  recover  those  who  had 
apostatized  to  Mohammedanism,  and  was  told  that  if  he  had  become  a  Moslem, 
that  would  have  been  a  lighter  affair,  for  then  he  would  not  have  injured  their 
Church  so  much  as  now.  This,  with  the  controversy  into  which  he  was  drawn  / 
with  his  patriarch  Maximus,  br'ought  on  a  brain-fever,  which  for  a  time  drove 
reason  from  her  throne.  But,  to  quote  his  own  words  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Smith, 
written  on  his  sick-bed,  "by  the  prescriptions  of  one  of  my  medical  scholars, 
God  saw  fit  to  give  me  relief,  and  I  became  convalescent.  To-day  there  re- 
mains only  weakness,  which  prevents  me  from  rising.     May  God,  in  answer  to 


32  APPENDIX. 

your  prayers,  restore  me  to  health,  that  I  may  finish  the  work  which  I  have 
begun,  lest  it  should  come  to  naught  and  the  enemies  of  the  Gospel  triumph." 

January  27,  1849,  Dr.  Smith  writes  to  America :  "  Dr.  M.  has  openly  de- 
clared himself  a  Protestant ;  this  has  brought  on  a  controversy  between  him 
and  his  former  patriarch  ;  and  as  he  is  probably  the  most  intelligent  native  lay- 
man in  the  country,  and  the  patriarch  the  most  learned  ecclesiastic,  intense  at- 
tention is  directed  from  all  quarters  to  the  discussion.  In  the  mean  time  oui 
correspondence  is  frequent  and  full ;  and  as  my  letters  to  him  require  investi- 
gation, not  of  the  Bible  only,  but  of  the  Fathers  also,  are  long  and  written  in 
Arabic,  they  take  up  no  little  time ;  but  I  have  never  had  more  delightful  work, 
nor  any  from  which  I  hoped  for  more  important  results.  He  favors  me  with  a 
copy  of  all  the  correspondence  between  him  and  his  antagonist,  and  also  of  his 
journal.  The  whole  is  deeply  interesting,  both  from  the  ability  displayed  and 
the  deep  Christian  sincerity  that  animates  him.  Every  word  of  the  documents 
in  my  hand  deserves  to  be  translated  and  printed  at  home." 

Dr.  Meshakah,  as  soon  as  possible,  prepared  a  treatise,  addressed  to  his 
countrymen,  explaining  the  reasons  of  his  secession  from  Rome,  and  setting 
forth  the  corruption  of  her  doctrines  and  practices,  which  was  published  at  the 
mission  press  in  Beirut,  1849,  pp.  324. 

In  this  work,  after  an  account  of  his  own  religious  history  and  the  corre- 
spondence already  referred  to  quoted  in  full,  he  goes  on  to  disprove  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  Pope,  the  existence  of  any  other  priesthood  or  sacrifice  but  that  of 
Christ ;  shows  that  the  early  church  had  only  two  officers,  namely,  presbyters 
and  deacons  ;  overturns  the  foundations  of  transubstantiation,  the  worship  of 
images,  prayers  to  saints  and  angels,  the  confessional,  purgatory,  the  claim  of 
the  Pope  to  be  the  only  authorized  interpreter  of  Scripture,  prayers  in  an  un- 
known tongue,  and  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  works.  He  then  expounds 
the  doctrine  of  regeneration,  sets  forth  the  antiquity  of  the  Protestant  church  as 
compared  with  the  more  recent  origin  of  the  Papacy,  exposes  the  interference 
of  the  Popes  with  secular  governments,  vindicates  the  right  of  all  men  to  read 
the  Scriptures,  and  closes  the  whole  with  an  earnest,  practical  appeal  to  his 
brethren  and  friends. 

Dr.  Smith  says  of  the  book :  "It  is  well  and  thoroughly  argued ;  sometimes 
most  impressively  solemn,  at  others,  keenly  sarcastic ;  and  throughout,  both 
spirited  and  fearless.    It  is  a  remarkable  production.    I  am  strongly  tempted  to 
,,  undertake  its  translation,  had  I  only  the  time  and  strength." 

The  lamented  Whiting,  in  writing  an  account  of  several  members  of 
the  mission  church,  June  10,  1852,  says :  "  The  next  is  Dr.  M.  of  Damascus, 
whose  conversion  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  important  ihat  has  occurred 
here  since  the  mission  was  established  ;  for  general  intelligence  and  weight  of 
character,  he  has  no  superior  among  the  native  population  ;  he  is  by  far  the 
best  native  physician  and  the  ablest  writer  in  Syria.  His  work  on  the  errors 
of  the  Roman  and  Greek  churches,  for  force  and  attractiveness  of  style,  will 
compare  with  the  Letters  of  Kirwan  ;  and  his  writings  will  be  read  in  spite  of 
the  anathemas  of  all  the  hierarchies  in  the  land." 

In  1852  he  published  a  reply  to  animadversions  on  his  former  work,  imder 
the  title  of  TIic  Answer  of  the  Gospel  Men  to  the  Vanities  of  the  Traditionists. 
Pp.  115. 


PAMPHLET    BINDER 

ZI^^   Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
-— — —    Stockton,  Calif. 


DATE  DUE 


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